The LIBERTY NO. 5 POST

Jon's Top Ten Films of 2011

2012-01-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

I hate to say this, but I didn't want to make a top ten list earlier this year. I don't know why I feel so compelled to do so now, but I do. I also have to admit that I might not have seen some of the best films of the last year still, so my list might seem thin or inadequate to some- I doubt it but we'll see. I am aware of a few films I suppose that would be acceptable on my list, except like I said, I've never seen them yet. This list at the bottom will be called "Movies I Should've Seen Already From 2011." So, here they are!

Jon's Top Ten Films of 2011

1. Drive - Dir. Nicholas Winding Refn
An uber-classy film of the highest order. I detect inspirations from the best years of Hollywood's glory with a leading man and a soundtrack to remind us what good filmmaking is. A slight raw indie sensibility is present as well. Refn is almost the new Tarantino in this offering.

2. Hanna - Dir. Joe Wright
An artful action flick with a fairy tale meaning and wonderful performances at its core. Another super soundtrack to keep us all riveted and cheering for Hanna all the way. Really masterful filmmaking where you care greatly about the protagonist and you're involved throughout the film.

3. Melancholia - Dir. Lars von Trier
A more accessible offering from von Trier than we are used to out in the audience. That being said, it still isn't accessible to most people and it is still rife with his themes of nihilism, fatalism and depression. However, it is still masterful filmmaking (especially the introductory 8 minute sequence) and it proves to be Kirsten Dunst's best performance in my opinion.

4. Martha Marcy May Marlene - Dir. Shawn Durkin
A strange paranoia-inducing romp through one young lady's scarred psyche as she tries to put her cult-following days behind her. Maybe I shouldn't call it a romp actually.

5. Submarine - Dir. Richard Ayoade
A fun Wes Anderson-ish account of an english boy's attempts to win over his heart-throb girlfriend and his own mother- to accept his (and his father's) strange depressive or should i say, 'submersive' ways. It's a quirky delight.

6. Fright Night - Dir. Craig Gillespie
A much-better remake of the 80's vampire tale starring Colin Farrell in one of his best performances as the menacing vampire 'Jerry'.

7. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Dir. Brad Bird
The best action flick of the year and incredible visuals and situations that are difficult to believe. Some fun ensemble acting in there as well.

8. Hugo - Dir. Martin Scorsese
A gorgeous, heart-felt film about a poor orphaned child who is working to find his purpose in the world and in the process finds an 'orphaned' early 20th century era Director (Milliez) who created some of most incredible early works of film.

9. Certified Copy - Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
A "Before Sunset"-style film that follows an author and a French woman (who is an enthusiast of his work) as they travel around and take in the Italian art throughout Tuscany. But the film is not a travelogue. Rather the story takes a turn and succeeds at involving the audience deeply in the nature of original art by also examining love and relationships and their connections with our affection for art.

10. The Descendants - Dir. Alexander Payne
A classy, fun and heart-felt tribute to the idea that our legacy on earth and in our family has meaning and value. Some great performances bloom here with George Clooney leading some young actors to some cathartic realizations. The tone of this film stays with you.

Runners up to the Top Ten:
13 Assassins
Hobo with a Shotgun
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Attack the Block
X-Men: First Class
Trollhunter
Captain America: The 1st Avenger
The Adventures of Tintin
Source Code
The Trip
Waiting for Superman
Cool It

Also, there are a bunch of films I still haven't seen from 2011. This may be why they never showed up in my top ten. Here is a list, but if any of you feel like I should watch them right away andn change my top ten list or I should run screaming away from these films just let me know. Here are the films...

Movies I Should've Seen Already From 2011:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Tree of Life
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Future
The Muppets
Win Win
Young Adult
Bridesmaids
Rango
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
50/50
General Orders No. 9
Contagion
The Help
Bellflower
Another Earth
The Skin I Live In
Jane Eyre
Winnie the Pooh
Warrior
Being Elmo
Anonymous
Rampart
Immortals
Tyrranosaur
Horrible Bosses
Machine Gun Preacher
Stake Land
Paranormal Activity 3
Margin Call
Everything Must Go
J. Edgar
Hesher
Moneyball
Beginners
Fast Five
The Hangover Part II
The Big Year
Puncture
The Rum Diary
Thor
Green Lantern
The Green Hornet
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Thing (2011)
Project Nim
Apollo 18
Dirty Girl
Sucker Punch
The Mechanic
Kung Fu Panda 2
Crazy Stupid Love
Soul Surfer
Courageous
Dolphin Tale
Conviction
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

I might have gone overboard here, but honestly, its like my eyes are bigger than my stomach, except my love of movies is bigger than my bank account. So, let me know if any of these movies are worth the expense or if I should have mentioned a different film from 2011! All and all it was a pretty good year for films... somewhat trans-formative I think- but 2012 should be fantastic!

Happy Holidays to our Family, Cast & Crew!

2011-12-22T15:44:00.002-05:00

Rebecca and I during our last Color Correcting session for "Death Do Us Part." Everything has been coming along smoothly. And a great big hug and a thank you to Eddie Sturgeon who is doing our Sound Design for us! He has been a real trooper! Thanks Eddie and Merry Christmas!

Finished with VFX- next up... Sound!

2011-11-20T13:57:00.001-05:00

After achieving picture lock we have finally finished our visual effects and prepared the product for sound. Honestly, I can see now that we had too many visual effects for my first film. I think it is a good idea to focus on certain goals for each short that you accomplish as a beginning filmmaker and this one had a bit much- not too much for me to chew, necessarily. That's not what I mean. I like a challenge. But, it was more than I had planned for this film. Especially since my wife would be given (proportionately) too large a bite to chew for an extremely part time job. She works full time at the Home Shopping Network, so this amount of effects can make even a relatively short film become a huge ordeal to tackle- but she did eagerly.

The film is now ready for Sound Mixing and for any musical accompaniment while we complete the coloring (which is already mostly done). A few songs may need to be composed but we will see what we can come up with given the right kind of help.

I just have to admit I am very pleased with the pictures here and what we have made from our short production time. Everybody who really worked hard, Wheat, Joy, Marcus, Pat, John, Mici, Tom, Trevor... we really did something great here. Pretty soon we will all see what our hard work accomplished. I will be sure to let you guys know when there is something I can show you! Until then, know that I am very happy with what we have... and I have seen a lot of local shorts and features. We have a good chance to make a dent- in fact I am SURE we will.

I'll be keeping you all in the loop! :)

Skirting the edges of production design

2011-10-01T20:07:00.000-04:00

I'm changing my filmmaking strategy this year (you might say). I am going to be skirting the edge of production design for the sake of ensuring good design on my future sci-fi films. That might seem like a big change but it's not really big for me- I am doing this to ensure I'm directing a good film. Getting into production design for me means learning designing and fabricating sets and props. I don't expect to be filling a production designers shoes entirely but I do expect that expanding my skill set will expand my opportunities and excellence on set.

The general look of a film is something I've always been concerned with but I specifically had hands on experience while being on set filming "Experiment 7" in 2009. While working with the Production Designer, Brittany Stevenson, I became involved in depth, as the Script Supervisor/Producer, with helping the look come along by coordinating how the sets and props interact with the characters and maintained their look. Of course with what I was doing, the continuity was king, but as it comes to craft, the desire to do production design myself definitely came into play.

For the first sci-film I am working on and for the first feature film I am working on I need to ensure good pleasant aesthetic and functional design so that the audience fully believes the story. I will be attending welding school for the next year so I can get to creating some genuinely functional steel and aluminum props and possibly I can get some animatronics or robotics involved as well. If nothing else I can at least help pay for my first few shorts with welding work (which pays more than what I can drum up right now). So wish me luck on running some good beads on all the types of welders and weldments I need to utilize to complete my tests and get my certifications.

Canon and Red lining up for the best seats in Hollywood on Nov 3rd

2011-09-25T20:44:00.000-04:00

Its funny since my post on RED vs. Canon I thought maybe RED would get the hint and stop trying to compete with Canon so directly. This is because I like BOTH companies, I like their products, and I wish they wouldn't fight. More than this their cameras aren't the same at all so they shouldn't be treated as competition for each other. In my belief RED should take the 'high road' and act like a pro camera company instead of a consumer or prosumer camera company. But what is happening now is that Red and Canon are both poising themselves for the release of their next products though (in Canon's case) some sort of Hollywood filmmaker (or indy filmmaker?) promotional event on Nov 3rd along with (in RED's case) a simultaneous announcement for their new product(s)... on the same day as Canon's event.

Like I said, I still believe RED is making a mistake by not staying with the pro market and competing with companies like Alexa and Sony- and if they 'happen' to release a pro camera (like Scarlet) that cuts into Canon/Nikon/Pentax's market share then so be it. But, this battling between these companies is just irresponsible and unnecessary because RED is a very different kind of company which has had its own unique challenges. Canon was birthed from a very different time and place in history and as a consequence many of Canon's customers aren't even going to understand RED's philosophy of business... which is a somewhat new way of doing things. This being said, the product can appear to be very similar to an un-savvy buyer. It takes a true understanding of the finished product as a photographer or filmmaker to truly see the difference.

To many who may ask, the answer is "Yes, you can shoot a professional film with a RED camera" and many in Hollywood do just that. And, "Yes, you can shoot a professional product with a Canon DSLR and many have done that"... especially as an experiment or as a film student's first project. But, how these features happened to enter the Canon DSLR cameras was by a happy accident... so I would NOT consider these DSLR's professional film or movie cameras since they were not made for that purpose. If Canon announces a camera that is made for the purpose of shooting films that would be different... and RED is free game to be challenged. RED needs to understand that the game has changed but they can't lose their poker face- they must hold their cards tight and protect not just their customers but also protect what their customers perception of them is... as a pro camera company. In other words Canon has room to try and grow upwards into a pro line of cameras but these DSLR's are not them- they are pro SLR's with some high rez video capability. Red has created a niche market for less expensive pro cameras... but they should steer clear of making their product look like a fancy DSLR with video capability as an afterthought. They need to be RED... their own beast that cannot be compared to Canon. A pro camera that makes no apologies for their super high rez, Hollywood-approved professional camera... the next panavision. Panavision would never get bristled feathers about what Canon does- they are unique cameras that create different products.

To sum it up, if you are a producer who doesn't know the difference, you need to talk to some DP's who've done both and ask them the difference... don't make the decision on your film just because you can save a few thousand on using a few DSLR's instead of using a RED. Also, if you are RED or Canon, if you don't have the confidence in your product to just let it be what it is and to focus on those best qualities, you might get taken off of your game and start thinking this is just a battle of words or advertising dollars, it is not. It is a matter of the camera to suit the product and to suit the budget. I think Canons are perfect for the beginning filmmaker who wants to shoot short subject, shoot with no crew/a small crew or is doing film school work. It's not the best on action films though and the batteries can overheat, but the Red has had overheating issues as well. In contrast, I think Red is great for feature film shooting. It makes it possible for producers who are considering their thin budget and also not keen on compromising on their quality. So they represent for me, different stages in a filmmakers life and different tools for different projects. No more, no less. Who knows what will happen on Nov 3rd, but at the end of the day the one who will have the best seat in Hollywood won't get it because of their loud mouth, they will get it because they made a great product that delivers on what it preaches.

The Amp HDR camera being developed!

2011-07-06T16:43:00.005-04:00

Contrast Digital announced recently that they are developing the Amp Gen II camera as a high tech HDRI film camera at 24 or 30 fps. If you know anything about HDRI you should find this interesting...

A Versatile HDR Video Production System from Mike Tocci on Vimeo.

So, obviously, I would really love to shoot with this camera or with one like it. Supposedly, the RED EPIC is going to have a comparable HDR capability... I have been for some time, after all, working on a concept for a feature film utilizing HDR video as a stylistic approach during the entire film. It is a post-american steampunk/sci-fi biker gang film and it should be just a complete enjoyment to film! Yayy! I can't wait!

Zacudo embarks on the Great Camera Shootout

2011-07-02T20:40:00.001-04:00

Go here for the Shootout:
http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011/episode-one

Zacudo, who makes pro support gear and rigs for cameras and filmmaking, has been a long-time producer of web shorts about filmmaking, dslr cameras and film on the web- and now they have embarked on their second series of tests for cameras (the first Great Camera Shootout was for DSLR's vs. Film and actually won an Emmy award). This one is supposedly even more professional, exhaustive, and high brow- with an LA production and screens all over the world with some of the world's finest cinematographers watching the tests & weighing in on the best of the best pro digital cameras.

The cameras chosen to compete this time were consistent with their more professional approach-- the best digital cameras in the world used on MOST films being produced today- including the DSLR's and including Kodak film as well. They tested the Arri Alexa, Red One MX, Sony F35, Sony F3, Phantom Flex, Kodak 5213, Kodak 5219, Panasonic AG-AF100, Weisscam HS-2, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 5D MkII, Canon 7D and the Nikon D7000. My camera the Canon 60D should be rated similarly to the Canon 7D as it comes to image quality. This is part one of a three part series which will be gradually released in the next few months as they are being edited.

I have to say I think this is the biggest public test of this kind in the world- I just hope they did all the cameras justice and no one gets their little panties in a wad over some of the results... people can get VERY attached to their cameras of choice and I for one am surprised in a few of the results. The Alexa did as well as I thought it would. Film didn't do so hot in the low light but handled any available light very well. The Sony's surprised with their high's and lows. The Flex seemed to do badly all around, just as the Panasonic seemed to do- definitely NOT as good as the others... even compared to the DSLR's. The DSLR's surprised as well with fairly good latitude for the price. But, I think the Red did very well- though on par with the Alexa and with the Sony's in my view. I suppose the biggest surprise is the fact that I feel my investment in a DSLR was still very smart AND that the next cameras for me is either the Red Epic (which is supposed to be even better than the One) or one of the Sonys. I was very surprised in the quality of the Sonys latitude vs. some of the other cameras. I still can't wait to see more of the Epic & I hope to use it on a film once it comes out. It is a sad thing that they couldn't acquire one for the test.

Regardless, we should all remember the line in the end of the video from a great cinematographer, Don McAlpine, "...compared to getting a good script, a good director and a good cast... man... it's a fraction of a percent with where you're going with the result..." meaning the result of these cameras (compared to one another) is a fraction of what is really important in making a good film (compared with the importance if having a good script, director & cast). So, true.

Looking for a composer

2011-06-29T18:33:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! I have long wanted some good friendships with musicians to help make films with. So, I have decided I might as well put out the call to find a composer to either help score a soundtrack for individual scenes or to provide their tracts for use in my upcoming film(s). Right now, I am working on a short film that is called "Death Do Us Part" and we are now in post-production. But, this may end up being a long term collaboration or friendship between us- if I like your style! Often, filmmakers will work with composers and musicians on an ongoing basis because of having a common style in collaboration. You dont have to be 'good'- I just need to like it! That being said, I cannot guarantee friendship- it sounds kind of funny to put it that way- but this internet collaboration thing can be turbulent, strange and unnerving and yet... it can also be strangely rewarding I have found... if the right chord is struck.

If you find yourself 'interested' in this idea, please respond by leaving me a comment and offering me a link to your content somewhere on the web... or by telling me a little bit about yourself. I would deeply appreciate any help you would give me to make my films sparkle and come to life- especially if your work is even moderately good! Remember, if you are good, you probably won't think you are that good- but it really only matters if you work hard and live up to your own personal bar of excellence... if you are doing that pleeeeaaaase contact me! If you know someone who would fit this description- please contact me or connect us! Thanks so much people!! =)

Loving the new RED EPIC tests at 300 fps

2011-06-25T17:13:00.002-04:00

I have been looking forward to some good fps tests with the new Epic camera. So Phillip Bloom just released this test yesterday. http://philipbloom.net/2011/06/25/epic300fps/

Drip: RED EPIC 300 FPS test shoot from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

This is especially relevant since Cameron & Lucas were speaking earlier this year at CinemaCon about fps being the next big thing after 3D- or so they say. Also, I'm loving the rumored HDR capabilities it is supposed to have and the selective focus in post. I can't wait to shoot with it at some point.

Picture Lock on "Death Do Us Part"!!!

2011-06-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

It looks like we have achieved this landmark of post-production phase!! Picture-Lock!! It is about 10 minutes with title sequence and credit crawl! Not too bad!! We still need the audio and most VFX to be laid in and rendered out... But, picture lock (which is the completion of the editing/cutting decisions- to the point that you can say it is pretty much chiseled in stone) makes it possible to complete these other goals with better accuracy. I cannot say when the VFX and sound will be done but- I will make sure to keep you all informed and up to date on our progress!

Film Hubs- Another Look

2011-06-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

A few years ago, I was researching what I call the different "film hubs" all around the U.S. to determine where the best place to do business and possibly the best place to move would be (if I were to move).

The Film Hubs (1-10): #10 being the best and #1 being, well... on the bottom. Not necessarily the bottom, as in, "the worst" in the nation, but relatively speaking, the worst of the bunch. So, this is strictly in comparison to the other film hubs being scrutinized in the post. Also, I have added a new priority to the mix which might affect things a few percentage points up or down. Getting a job if we move is important, so I added a "Jobs" priority. Since, my wife works in TV editing and I am probably going to have to get some video or production-related work or possibly, I hope to be able to work in the welding field. Regardless, this is definitely an important factor... these are not simply normal jobs you can find anywhere. Also, I decided to add my assessment of how California would stack up with the other film hubs according to my own current priorities, so there are now, eleven contenders.

Priorities: Jobs + Cheap + Industry + Film Community + Livable + Family = Total

1. Portland/Seattle/Vancouver Film Hub 7 + 4 + 6 + 7 + 10 + 8 = 42

2. NYC Film Hub 10 + 1 + 10 + 9 + 7 + 3 = 40

3. Florida Film Hub 10 + 8 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 10 = 40

4. California Film Hub   8 + 1 + 10 + 7 + 7 + 4 = 37
5. Louisiana Film Hub   7 + 7 + 9 + 6 + 4 + 4 = 37
6. New England Film Hub   6 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 5 + 5 = 36
7. Texas Film Hub   5 + 7 + 6 + 8 + 4 + 5 = 35
6. Pittsburgh/Cleveland Film Hub   3 + 5 + 5 + 7 + 6 + 8 = 34
8. Michigan Film Hub   4 + 5 + 6 + 6 + 4 + 9 = 34
10. Chicago/Milwaukee Film Hub   6 + 3 + 8 + 6 + 5 + 6 = 34
11. Georgia Film Hub   6 + 7 + 4 + 6 + 5 + 5 = 33

It looks like the PacNW wins this round! And there is a tie right now between the other 2 film hubs of choice. The great thing is they are all places that are important for different reasons. In NYC, it is the film-related work and jobs. In the PacNW, it is the greater livability factor with, at least, an acceptable film industry to work with (while primarily a Canadian film hub up in Vancouver). In Florida, it is because a job is ensured and because our family is here... increasing the Jobs and Family rating.

However, there is something to consider. For some people, I think the PacNW livability might be much lower, since some people have an aversion to wet weather... I, on the other hand, have ALWAYS appreciated wet weather because it meant for me that, immediately after, the weather would get 'cooler' where I live (which is in Florida). I even appreciate hurricanes because of my extreme dislike of hot humid weather. Obviously, its another reason I would love to move out of the "Sunshine State".

So, looks like I'll be looking at Vancouver, Portland and Seattle film schools and jobs this week. Maybe I'll find something that interests me- or something that proves my high marks wrong somehow. We will see. =)

Still Exploring the Film School Options

2011-06-08T12:40:00.002-04:00

Since I started my filmmaking career about 4 years ago I have wanted to move to a 'film hub' and possibly to attend film school. I try not to get too emotional about these decisions but it also makes me put them off or ignore their importance. I have also been a proponent of filmmaking self-education over the internet and through personal experience. For the most part this method has proven to be effective if you are a self-starter and you take personal initiative to constantly improve upon your own work. That being said, I have not progressed as much as I had hoped (based on my goals a few years ago) probably because I tend to start out with some very ambitious goals and then more realistic realities start to take form eventually.

If you have seen my slate of projects that I have had on this blog... well lets just say I am a bit behind on those goals. Admittedly, even the more recent goals were much more realistic than how I started- which was to make a feature sci-fi noir RIGHT AWAY. Of course, I had no idea how much work and how much money that would actually take to achieve. I am not someone who wants to make what may be called "crap movies"- although I could have made something (by now) that would 'technically' meet the stated goals in past blog posts- but they would be nowhere near the quality that I have imagined in my head. I am of the opinion that if you make bad movies- you get type-cast as someone who just makes bad movies... so I want to at least not fall into making movies without a solid handle on the "craft".

This brings me back to moving because the quality of your crew is seriously affected if you do not live in a good area for filmmaking. Also... Rebecca and I still want to move. Some of our challenges are also still the same challenges. Most of all, the real estate market is still bad and I need to finish fixing up our condo.

Still, I have managed to narrow down the film hubs and colleges I am interested in. I prefer organizations and very specific programs that are much cheaper and faster than normal colleges and universities- since I prefer a real film community over film theory and academics. Here are the possible schools and programs. Many are in NYC while some others are in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Portland, Seattle, Grand Rapids, Denver & Vancouver, BC.

The Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute
Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School
Chicago Filmmakers
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Digital Film Academy

Colorado Film School

Hunter College (CUNY)

nwFilm Center School of Film
NW Film Forum
Seattle Film Institute
Vancouver Film School
Compass Film Academy

If anyone can recommend a school (hopefully cheaper than NYU or Columbia please), or knows anything about these areas, these organizations or these schools in question, give me a comment or two. I'd appreciate it!

Development (Update 3)

2011-06-03T15:23:00.003-04:00

Here is another update on the films slated to be shot in the future. Please refer to the last update to see the context here. So, here is the current state of my brainstorming progress...

Short Subjects

"Death Do Us Part" -- Post-Production -- Jun 2011

"Untitled Short written by Rebecca Croft" -- Writing -- Jun 2011

"Lunch Date" aka "Wendigo" -- In Development -- Nov 2011

"The Fire" -- Writing -- Jan 2012

Features

"Bad Day" -- Writing -- Oct 2011

"Punishment" -- Planned -- Jun 2012

"Redshift" -- Planned -- Feb 2013

Instead of just saying "In Development" I thought I would be more specific about the kind of work we are doing (or not doing) on each project. So, either we have "planned" to start working on or developing the project, we are actively "writing", we are "in development" (which is like re-writing), we are in "pre-production" (meaning it has been green-lighted so we are planning the shooting), we are "filming" (production), or we are in "post-production" (editing, vfx, sound design, music composition, ADR, coloring, rendering, etc).

The Shorts

My wife is now writing another short which makes me really excited- especially because it is a period fantasy piece!! I have to say, knowing my wife and the quality of her ideas- I pretty much slated this short immediately upon hearing her plans. The title is not determined yet, but it should be a really fun, lighthearted piece. "Death Do Us Part" was different in the sense that it was also lots of fun but a bit more serious. "Lunch Date" has morphed a bit into a classic horror story with a monster and some modern moodiness. "The Fire" is being taken from my own rambling, eclectic, dystopian ideas to create a dark American society in the future. "The Fire" has suspended in it- ideas for a feature film about a similar dark dystopian American society, except with hyped up futuristic motorcycle gangs!!! YAYY! Who couldn't get excited about that? I also have a similar dystopian story planned for a different feature with a detective in a dark American future city and a sort of sci-fi noir atmosphere aspect to it. If you know what my favorite film is, you will know where I'm coming from here... its kind of a no brainer! These shorts are supposed to prepare me for these feature ideas to be really great when I execute them so, I suppose we will see about that.

The Features

"Bad Day" seems to me now a better first feature to start with than "Punishment", even though it is not a horror like Punishment but also it is not as much of a high concept art film. It is a simple story about bad things happening to normal people in a normal small American suburban setting. "Transmission" has not gone away- it is the same story but the title has been changed to "Redshift". Also, I will need considerable funding to make the dystopian American biker gang movie set in the near future (which we can call "Timeline" as a working title), so I have not slated it here yet because I have no idea when I could expect that sort of funding.

If any of these projects sound like things you would like to get involved in or are excited about, let me know and show your support! Thanks so much for all of the help we've received so far with "Death Do Us Part"!! There is more to come and we plan on getting bigger and better with every offering!! Ciao people!

The Self-Taught Filmmaker: Part 1

2011-06-01T18:13:00.003-04:00

This is the beginnings of an ongoing article about how to teach yourself to be a filmmaker online and through personal experience- which I will update often and add new parts to (because of all the information). Reading this article can help make you a great filmmaker, but I must give a disclaimer...

First of all, filmmakers are born... & second of all, filmmakers are made (if not born). But in order to be "made" you MUST work as a filmmaker and experience the work many times before you realize your shortcomings and you chose to overcome them. If you do not chose to do this- you will not be nearly as great as a born filmmaker. You must use proactive, confident action. And you must be willing to smack your head up against a wall of indifference over and over.

So, my disclaimer means that my information will help you to acquire a measure of technical skill and a measure of efficiency- but it is no substitute for talent or for experience. This is where you come in. NO ONE can make you great or motivate you to be great. Only you can do this all by your lonesome.

I will outline the kinds of help you will be getting here and within each section I will expand and add information as I have time to do so.

The Self-Taught Filmmaker Outline

1. Advice on your Attitude

2. Build a knowledge base

3. Find a Place to Fit in

4. Get to know the Film Community

5. Get to know Film equipment

6. Get to know the small business basics

7. Create benchmarks and goals for yourself

8. Advice on Success & Failure

Part 1
Advice on your Attitude: Determination & Humility

I approach filmmaking just as I do with life... as an imperfect system. I cannot expect others to do things for me just as I cannot expect that I wont have to do ALL of the work other people don't want to do & pick up all the pieces left from an organization where most people just "don't care". This is basically the job of the Producer- to pick up where others leave off after they told you they wouldn't leave you holding the bag & they did anyway. The Producers have to be the shepherds or the parents in the situation. Don't be resentful about it- take the position that others leave behind- it is a great position of respect within the industry. Regardless of any respect however, this is an industry rife with failures. We all love to talk about the few successes- these things give us fuel to continue on- but we need to get used to failure as a normal state of being.

My belief is that determination and humility are twin maxims that may give you success in this arena. Determination keeps you plodding on and humility keeps you from losing patience or forgetting why you are there & what direction you are heading. We can all fail to remind ourselves that our work can become rote & boring... yes, even filmmaking can become a dull, dull existence when we haven't made any money after a year of pain & bitterness... and (like I said) no money. But, if we remind ourselves that there are constantly things to learn- constantly, new projects we can find ourselves stimulated by, constantly reminding ourselves that even really great filmmakers lose their edge and become yesterdays news, we can stay motivated.

Humility always reminds us that we are not superheroes or Gods, we are silly, silly fools... lucky just to have a voice and an audience at all. Do everything with humility because it helps you to learn more which will put you on top of a great many filmmakers not content to live outside of their massive egos. Instead we already know that we are not perfect & we do not mind being reminded of that fact. Instead we are grateful for the chance to continue learning more.

Filmmaking is also a long arduous process so we need to be prepared for this long journey. At least if we are humble we will be more patient with that process and with ourselves. It helps us to remain stimulated and growing constantly towards better filmmaking.

A helpful process of creating films for me is "Feel, Think, Do, Cooperate, Re-assess". This means start out with pure emotion. What stimulates you? What makes you happy when you watch a film? What kind of filmmaking process do you love the most? Then, go with that gut- but be careful- the next step is "Think." Think about "how" you are going to achieve this feeling in a smart way- so that it will be a successful endeavor- different from past projects of the same genre- more efficient, more creative, more raw. Then, complete it with diligence, confidence, patience and passion-- this is the "do" step. Then, remember that you MUST cooperate with your collaborators on making working, friendly, trusting relationships and executing the work that is most important to make this film as it should be. Last of all "re-assess" what went well and what went badly. Make a list of things to fix next time and a list of things to NOT change (or the things you loved about the project). You will be continually growing and learning from this process.

So...
Feel
Think
Do
Cooperate
Re-assess

Do all of these things with determination and humility. Remember where you came from and where you are going before you head out on your journey. :)

Next up: Part 2 is about building a knowledge base. There are numerous sources of information on the internet- but there are other areas you can mine for resources and help too.

Movies I Am Most Anticipating

2011-05-27T01:32:00.011-04:00

The films I am most anticipating recently (there are so many great upcoming films I had to make this list!) from the most anticipated to least. I can hardly wait- even for the least anticipated ones here! So, here they are...

1. Super 8 by J. J. Abrams
2. The Hobbit by Peter Jackson
3. Prometheus by Ridley Scott
4. Arrested Development by Mitchell Hurwitz
5. Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino
6. Kill Bill: Vol III by Quentin Tarantino
7. Pacific Rim by Guillermo Del Toro
8. Untitled Sci-Fi by Duncan Jones
9. The Dark Knight Rises by Christopher Nolan
10. Cowboys & Aliens by Jon Favreau
11. The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick
12. Bond No. 23 by Sam Mendes
13. Akira by ????
14. Robotech by ????
15. Elysium by Neill Blomkamp
16. Gravity by Alfonso Cuaron
17. Machine Man by Darren Aronofsky
18. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher
19. Untitled Project by Jim Jarmusch
20. World War Z by Marc Forster
21. Oz: the Great & Powerful by Sam Raimi
22. Corpus Christi by Richard Kelly
23. Machine Gun Preacher by Marc Forster
24. Neuromancer by Vincenzo Natali
25. Looper by Rian Johnson
26. Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson
27. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Timur Bekmambetov
28. ParaNorman by Chris Butler and Sam Fell
29. Trance by Danny Boyle
30. Project London by Ian Hubert
31. Jack the Giant Killer by Bryan Singer
32. Adventures of Tintin by Stephen Spielberg
33. Brave by (Pixar's) Brenda Chapman and Marc Andrews
34. Cloud Atlas by the Wachowskis
35. General Orders No. 9 by Bob Persons
36. Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie by Tim & Eric
37. Heart String Marionette by M Dot Strange
38. Total Recall by Len Wiseman
39. Dark Shadows by Tim Burton
40. Ecstasia by Wayne Kramer
41. Ghostbusters III by Ivan Reitman
42. Battlestar Gallactica by Bryan Singer
43. Ubik by Michel Gondry
44. Young Adult by Jason Reitman
45. Hesher by Spencer Susser

There may even be more of these, but for the life of me, I can't remember a time when there were so many upcoming films I was interested in... usually its maybe 5-10 per year? Maybe? Of course I'm aware that many of these won't come out this year and many of them may never even get made. There's just so many! This doesnt even include many films that are already released that I still need to watch. Hmmmph. I have my work cut out for me! :)

"D.D.U.P." Editing & Exploring ideas for our next Short

2011-05-20T19:40:00.001-04:00

I am in the post-production phase of "Death Do Us Part" and I have morphed and grown in this phase more than I thought I would. Since my wife, Rebecca Croft (writer & editor for the project) has been working full time at her editing gig at HSN (she has, by the way, grown some great relationships there) I have been editing more for the short, which means I have been doing it somewhat inefficiently and unconventionally compared to my wife. I have found that I rely a great deal on rote routines and find difficulty with new experiences unless I am very prepared for them. So, I have been going over our rough edit for some time now & modifying my ideas about how to narrow down a cut. Since there is no ONE way to do this- I find it an interesting process. I am now working to make the beginning communicate to the viewer as a beginning. Also, we need to drop in the vfx scenes and get the pacing working with the soundtrack- which we still need.

An easy distraction for me to embrace during this post phase is coming up with story ideas for our next short. Coming up with ideas for shorts is harder for me than feature ideas because the time limitation is so restrictive. I have a creative flux that loves possibilities of fleshing out very epic stories- not short 'farts' of story. Just as its always been hard for me to learn and to tell jokes or quippy remarks- since I always get caught up in the huge context of what makes an epic story work. In other words, the real world is very complex and it takes time to sort out life's complexities- but its something I do very naturally and easily- like taking a snapshot of that very technically complex story or idea... then laying out 'how' to tell the story to make the maximum impact on the viewer... instead I am left with one or two very short moments to plant a growing seed of lasting interest for the viewer.

This is why we decided to do "Death Do Us Part". It is like one big punchline that creates a potential for great moments where the viewer is supposed to be very affected by the relationships and atmosphere in the film. It just needs that punchline to happen and the film can hinge on that moment.

For our next short, I hope to do something a bit larger in scope, as well as to learn from our mistakes in this last one. I had planned a sort of thriller/horror based on a short my wife made years ago in high school. I also keep having ideas for an epic art film idea that I call "The Fire". It has some horrific elements, some sci-fi and steampunk elements and some dystopian ideas in it which is so much of what I love about film. I think I need to do what my heart most leads me to do but this is a very difficult decision. Once I write the script it will be an easier choice.

I need a triangulation of advantages to help me take my films to the next level and this is much of what I am concerned about- not so much about whether I can make a film- but "what will it be?" and "how will I get it out there to reach the next level?" is more the questions I am struggling with.

Death Do Us Part - Wrapping Party (2)

2011-04-19T15:23:00.001-04:00

So, WHEN is Jon gonna contact us & let us know what the heck he is doing with the movie??? How about a PARTY instead???

The Party Down Until... Death Do Us Part Wrapping Party will take place at Rhino Studios on Saturday April 23rd at 7pm. You may bring any significant others, dependents or attachments with you (within reason). Lets make sure to have some good clean fun!! There is no cost for you- this is not a club- it is a film studio. LOL. So, keep that in mind. We are not allowed to burn down the 600 block on Central Ave- so..... yeah. We may bring drinks. If there are any requests- please let me know. No, not song requests- drink or food requests. LOL.

So, be ready to hang out & watch a behind the scenes video of Death Do Us Part!!! Please confirm with me by phone, email or my facebook.

Also, there may be peppery eggs for us on a first come first served basis. :) Yayy!!!!! Now THATS a party!!!

Jon

Why Liberty No. 5 Pictures?

2011-04-05T04:04:00.142-04:00

Liberty is American & Filmmaking is American

What does Liberty No. 5 Pictures stand for? What does the word "Liberty" and the "number 5" have to do with anything and especially filmmaking? The simple answer? Liberty No. 5 is a personal distillation and interpretation of some of the distinctly American things and filmmaking things that I love. I love that filmmaking and America seem to go hand in hand... the production company logo itself is modeled after a gold American coin, a historically timeless symbol of value. On this, the liberty torch, a symbol oft used in American symbology and in some other film production companies (especially in my favorite production logo title card, the Columbia Pictures 'torch lady' logo). So, I chose Liberty No. 5 to be a strong, centrally placed, round metallic symbol, that also contains my personal philosophy of filmmaking and thrifty producing that i have learned through the years. To me, it means something of "timeless American value."

The Nickelodeon

There is significance to both elements of the company's name, "liberty" and "no. 5". Most of all, the logo encapsulates the primary meaning best... specifically, the old "American-style coin" logo is modeled after the early 20th century American Liberty Head "V" nickel. This coin was used, beginning in 1905, as payment to watch some of the first short films ever made in the first effective film distribution model ever known, called the "Nickelodeons". This industry was founded from these humble means, but grew to great heights very quickly and morphed into longer-format exhibition-style theaters as the early filmmakers like D.W. Griffith would move westward & would popularize feature length films.

Other Liberty Film Production Companies

There is also a great history of Film Production companies using the name "Liberty" in their title, the greatest of which is Frank Capra's "Liberty Films" of the late 40's and the most recent of which is Duncan Jones' "Liberty Films" currently in operation in the UK. I intend to pay respect to these companies as well as the principles of my production company... but in addition, to the concept of freedom, from which we are given the right to make films and to speak freely about whatever matter we wish to speak about through our chosen form of speech. I am grateful for the right & the freedom to speak but if I truly intend to honor that freedom, I recognize that I must use it responsibly.

Auteur Filmmaking & Artistic Freedom

Back to the primary element of "liberty", we will have to take a trip through history. First of all, Frank Capra's "Liberty Films" was intended to be an independent film production company, set up as an oasis, separate from the control of Hollywood power and away from so-called "executive power." Frank Capra's philosophy on the matter was that the auteur filmmaker/or a strong Director/Producer and not the corporate, or executive-run film productions that Capra had known and we still know today, should override the latter on the decision-making process (as it comes to greenlighting-- and as it comes to any artistic decisions in filmmaking).

Capra's philosophy vs. mine

If we look closer, we can see the positive and negative parts of his philosophy. For example, the greatest film that sprang from his company was "It's a Wonderful Life," although the film itself bankrupted the company. It has also grown a legacy for itself, but at the time, it was difficult to outgrow Capra's incredible spending and failure to hedge his bets, which ruined the company. Yet, as we can see today, it was a very significant film in its powerfully humanitarian themes, its sense of moral duty and in its sense of craft. So, we can see that certain problems may bring about exceptions to Frank Capra's philosophy on individual artistic license and this detail may have actually cost Capra the future of his film company.

Yes, as an artist the film speaks for itself as a work of beauty and genius. Yet, we must learn that without maintaining financial stability, an artist cannot maintain his high quality of work, nor can he successfully secure his future. My vision, then is to forge a compromise between the Producer/Executive's power and the Producer/Director's. I have designed a corporate and executive structure that reflects this compromise, a structure that I call "In Touch & At Risk". I will tell you about this in another post, but the important thing now is the relevance to the name and its calling us to remember not just freedom of speech but, also, of artistic freedom.

The 5th

The significance of the number 5 in Liberty No. 5 Pictures is for the most part about the nickelodeon. But, there are some other curious connections with the number five. There are five human senses and the five human wits in Western philosophy and literature. There are five fingers on the human hand, five limbs on the human body and the five elements in eastern philosophy, known as earth, water, fire, wind & void. As it comes to running a film production company, there are five departments necessary in any efficient film production of any kind: Camera, Sound, Art, Post-Production, & of course, the administrative or Above-the-line (which includes the Director, all Producers and the lead talent attached to the project). The number 5 is significant in nature, in the sciences, the humanities and in it's historical significance. A film with this grounding can then not only take shape as a true work of art, but can also, grow, move and speak for itself as a living entity, adapting as necessary to the current situation and cultural context it finds itself. And a film can be a force of nature, given the freedom to do so.

Force and Shape

I hope that, given the time for my vision to take shape, I can breathe life into many films that will give a much needed voice to untold and significant stories. Stories that desires to do more than speak... but to act. To be something of value that can perpetuate continued learning for those who watch, for some decades in the future. I wish to say that there are rules in the universe just as there are in the sciences, in mathematics and in religion. That there is a form to the universe and an absolute shape to the world we live in. These truths are obvious for those who learn, but for the unteachable, there is art.

What I have learned as a writer is that given our recognition to the limitations we are presented with, we can make the best of what we have, instead of being stubborn children who proclaim, in complete ignorance, that we are kings of the universe. Instead, we should first admit to ourselves that we are what we are... women and men... nothing more and nothing less. And we can not only live with that, but we can thrive in these limited conditions, happily. Life is a series of challenges and for most of us, an unfair hand of cards are dealt us as human beings. A well crafted story can enlighten many of us to these facts and can help us deal with these ignoble circumstances where other things will only fail to speak to us on any real level... this is especially true, the more commercial our art becomes.

But, more than so-called "card players", we are individuals... people who must learn to live with one another more nobly and more free. Free to make mistakes, and free to succeed. And free to speak our mind on any number of subjects in the interest of honest discussion and debate. My opinion is that the films and the art that help us to think and to examine the real world around us more, even if on a subtle level, is worthy of much exploration and worthy of support, whether it be through our friendship or through our patronage.

Learning Lessons

When I was learning music in my twenties, I learned that there are rules, and very possibly from this there might even be the perfect pop song just waiting to be created if we were willing to learn the lessons necessary to create it. In other sciences and arts the same thing is true, rules apply and we must gravitate to them and humble ourselves to them before we know how to work with them & befriend them. This can only give us an advantage as compared to artists that do not know or acknowledge these rules. I recognize filmmaking to be the same discipline of humility and growth within boundaries, within respect and within rational reason- not something to be constantly challenged or rebelled against- it is instead, a beautiful dance.

And a dance is a constant adaptation to your own limitations in form- you go with your limitations- not against them, and you can find that doing unique things comes easier because you are a unique person and your expression within the discipline will always be unique, without fail. Failure is simply listening to other artists as the authority instead of listening to the real limitations in form and in the filmmaking discipline. And yet, I can always get back on the horse and learn the lesson.

And I would hope that if I do fail as a filmmaker at first, you will continue to give me a try in the future because... I have simply fallen off of the horse, but, as I have to dust off and nurse a bruised rear end, hoping the skittish stallion has not lost confidence in me, all you need to do is... to simply put another nickel in the nickelodeon and watch a man's dreams take shape... into a beautiful dance of flickering light and form. All I can say is, thank you for believing... and enjoy your movie.

Death Do Us Part - Wrapping Party/Post Production Phases

2011-04-05T03:39:00.003-04:00

"Death Do Us Part" is wrapped and is doing very well, thanks to the very dedicated talent and crew that made this film possible. Thank you all so much! A Wrapping Party will be taking place in the next few weeks so we can say thank you more personally and invite you all to watch some of the film. While a rough has not been entirely cut yet, due to other work commitments, our time off has been lots of fun with the little editing we have done so far!

New Developments: The Party will ~~most likely~~ be on Sat April 23rd at Rhino Film Studios from 7-10pm!!! There will be some behind the scenes video shown at the Party!!!! Come ready to have a good time!!!! Peppery eggs will be served to all attendees!!! (Just kidding!)

As it comes to our Post-Production phases- they will be somewhat typical as films go: a rough cut is done first and is now nearing completion, we will be working on some of the visual effects for certain scenes as well as putting the opening title/closing title sequence together during that time and I will be gathering music during this entire process as I am struck with inspiration and discover the right opportunities for licensing and scoring. Then we will hopefully be locking everything down including all the pacing and all the extra sequences, of course much of this depends on getting the right music to help set the pacing if need be. Sometimes the right song can effect a sequence and its pacing for the better, so I will be looking out for these happy occasions. After getting picture lock we can start getting all the VFX solidified and the colorizing can be done and soon after that- voila! We will have a film!

But, again, I want to reiterate that we do not want to rush post-production because we realize it is REALLY about quality. It is always a good reminder to keep the main thing the main thing in our filmmaking endeavors. We are never guaranteed success for our hard work and we are never guaranteed any understanding from others or even from ourselves when we don't succeed for whatever reason. We just need to keep remembering why we are doing it and learn to not lean so much on these "perfect" outcomes happening. What I feel is, as long as we are working hard on our discipline, we are on the right path.

So, thanks to so many of you who put the right foot forward & continued to give quality- not simply putting the days work in and going home. You are on the right path my friends! It'll be great to work with you again!!

Party time!!
(More to come soon...)

General Call Times & Locations for "Death Do Us Part"

2011-02-24T12:14:00.002-05:00

We currently are in need of a few Extras to play funeral party guests during the Sunday Feb 27th Funeral Scene shoot- best if over 45 years of age. Wear black 'formal' and sunglasses- make sure to bring a change of clothes and wear sunscreen. A black or grey umbrella would be a good idea to bring as well- if you got em.

General Call Times

CAST Call Times:
Friday Feb 18th 7:00pm-2am - Scenes 2,3,4 (Barbara, Cathy, Henry)
Sunday Feb 20th 10:00am-7pm - Scenes 4,5,6 (Barbara, Henry)
Saturday Feb 26th 9:00am-2pm - Scenes 7,8 (Barbara)
Sunday Feb 27th 10:00am-3pm - Scene 1 (Barbara, Cathy, Priest, BG Talent)

CREW Call Times:
Friday Feb 18th 6:00pm-2am - Scenes 2,3,4 (Matt & Tim not needed, Need Marcus)
Sunday Feb 20th 9:00am-7pm - Scenes 4,5,6 (Matt & Tim not needed, Need Marcus)
Saturday Feb 26th 9:00am-2pm - Scenes 7,8 (only need Joyce, Jon, Wheat, Rebecca, & Antonio)
Sunday Feb 27th 9:00am-3pm - Scene 1 (Need BG Talent & Matt & Tim to help with Funeral Setup)

Locations:

~~Fri 18th night shoot & Sun 20th~~

INT/EXT House location
135 9th Ave NE, St. Petersburg, FL.
--Park along the street on 9th Ave NE or along the street going down 1st St.
--Meet in front of 135 9th Ave House. Then on the back deck of the house.

Sat Feb 26th
Crematorium location
Royal Palm Cemetery, 1st Ave S. + 55th St., St. Petersburg, FL.
--Parking along side of street, 1st Ave. S.
--Meet on 1st Ave S. & walk in when called -or- we will drive you into the cemetery if possible.

Beach location
Sunset Beach, 77th Ave + West Gulf Boulevard, Treasure Island, FL
--Park in the Parking Lot at the beach. Pay for parking if necessary- we will reimburse you.
--Meet in the Parking Lot.

Sun Feb 27th
Cemetery location
Royal Palm Cemetery, 1st Ave S. + 55th St., St. Petersburg, FL.
(Same location as the Crematorium)
--Parking along side of street, 1st Ave. S.
--Meet on 1st Ave S. & walk in when called -or- we will drive you into the cemetery if possible.

Backup Cemetery location -2 blocks away:
Park location
Bear Creek Park 1st Ave N. + 60th St., St. Petersburg, FL.
--Parking along side of street, 1st Ave N.
--Meet at picnic benches between ball park behind the house on corner.

Thank you so much for helping & we should have a great fun 4 days of shooting!!!

Jon

First Day of Shooting "Death Do Us Part"

2011-02-18T13:29:00.001-05:00

First days are always the best & worst days. You get over your worries but you also deal with your worst scenarios. You find out if people are really on your side & if your overall plan really works... Its a sea-change... whatever the heck that means.

For this shoot we had to do a lot. As you can see by this picture we were somewhat successful though. We got a time machine on the blackmarket, brought our lead actors with us, and told them to establish a long-lasting marital relationship, so that their part for the movie would be acted more realistically. It all paid off! We took this photo as proof of what we did! Better yet, with the time machine we didn't lose any time in this process we couldn't make up later. Of course, now I have stories of meeting up with doppelgangers and having our brief run-ins with the universe collapsing- but we are all just fine as you can see!

Tonight, we are going to shoot this movie & the acting will be stellar, because they really DID spend the last 40 years re-living their best & worst moments... for YOU and for the FILM. So, expect this movie to knock your socks off! I, for one, did not expect to find a time machine for such a great price on the black market so I am blown away!!

The General Call Times and location are thus:

6pm for Crew -- 7pm for Cast at:
135 9th Ave. NE
St. Petersburg, FL
--Park along the street on 9th Ave NE or along the street going down 1st St.
--Meet in front of 135 9th Ave House. Then on the back deck of the house.

Pat will come a little early, as will Wheat, John, me & Rebecca. We will be working until about 2am with a break at about 11pm. Come having eaten right before & we will be ready to work!

Thanks so much! Don't forget to thank Joyce & Patrick for giving so much of their 40 years or work & sacrifice to go back in time for us & snap that picture! Thanks a billion!

Jon Croft
Director
Liberty No. 5 Pictures

Behind the Scenes of "Death Do Us Part" - Breakdowns

2011-02-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

How I do my breakdowns...

We are getting close to production phase! Let us know if you want to help us out!
libertynumber5-at-gmail.com

Behind the Scenes of "Death Do Us Part" - Part 2

2011-02-10T11:02:00.002-05:00

Casting Sessions!!

Let us know if you want to help us out!...
libertynumber5-at-gmail.com

"Death Do Us Part" - Casting Call - 2/2/11

2011-02-02T10:27:00.002-05:00

Liberty No. 5 Pictures is Casting for "Death Do Us Part," a short supernatural dramedy film.

Looking for actors between the ages of 45-65.

Casting Sessions will take place during (3) days:
1) Saturday February 5th from 11AM to 2PM
2) Monday February 7th from 6PM to 9PM &
3) Tuesday February 8th from 6PM to 9PM
at:
Rhino Film Studios, 657 Central Ave. St. Petersburg, FL. 33714

Characters (Non-SAG)

Barbara (surviving wife) (45-65) white female
Henry (husband, zombie) (45-65) white male
Cathy (Best friend of Barbara) 45-65 female
Priest (grave and sincere) 45-65 male

Bring a headshot or photo & be ready to read. There will be a moderate action sequence & Henry will need to be made-up in zombie makeup. Shooting will take place during weekends in Late February (the 19th/20th & 26th/27th). We will consider all kinds of resumes of all applicants, possibly for other unadvertised or currently unavailable positions. Please be professional and courteous- email us with your name, age, sex, important contact information, any relevant experience & the date & time you will be coming. You can send it to libertynumber5 at gmail.com. Thank you & I will be happy to meet all of you!

"Death Do Us Part" is an independent short film written by Rebecca Croft & directed by Jon Croft.

Death Do Us Part - 1/29/11 - Production Report

2011-01-29T18:12:00.002-05:00

***NEW UPDATES as of 2/3/11***

Hi everyone! Jon here! Here's a quick report on what we have "going for us" and what we don't have "going for us" so far.

We have most of the equipment we need to shoot this so that (somewhat large expense) is taken care of. We also have most of our crew (but we do need to get everyone together before we shoot). We have found ~~two~~ places to conduct our casting sessions at. The first is downtown St. Pete, ~~the other is a nice conference room in Largo~~. This will POSSIBLY be held next weekend (Saturday the 5th, the day before the Superbowl) and the following Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th in the evening- ~~NOT~~ ~~SOLIDIFIED YET~~. Most of our locations will need no authorization or permit. There is a "side of the street" location, a "moment at the beach", stepping out of an ext location which will double as a "crematorium", and a "funeral" which mostly will look like a cemetery but it doesn't need to be at a cemetery really. Most of the film will take place in an old "bungalow style" house, which of course, we ~~will need~~ have authorization to use. Probably two days of shooting there. Then there is the green screen sfx head shot scene which might be effectively placed at location with a plate shot, or added with footage taken at a small green screen studio. Many of the props are still needed however, as well as all of the cast, which would of course include wardrobe needs.

Again, this is for an 8 min non-union no/lo pay dramedy horror short film shot on the Canon 60D DSLR in Pinellas County. Say that fast with flaming marshmallows in your mouth! It'll be fun! No, just kidding... don't do that! Put those marshmallows down!

Ok, heres the rundown...

Equipment we have:
Camera Equipment (camera w/ lenses, tripod, head, monitor, skateboard dolly, & possibly a steadicam & small crane, slate), Lights (4-8 small to medium lights 250w-500w lights, one 2k Mole, a few reflectors & flags, gaffer tape, cords & strips), Sound Equipment (recorder, cords, blimp, boom, mic).

Equipment we need:
Camera Equipment (magic arm for monitor), Lights (C-stand, Black Wrap, CTO/CTB, Diffusion or a softbox, Gobo heads, clamps & arms for flags & reflectors, etc), Sound Equipment (mic situation better suited for INT conversations: cardioid mic, lavalier mic system).

Crew we have:
Producer
Director
Cinematographer
1st AD
1st AC
Production Manager?
Production Coordinator
PA

Crew we need:
SFX MU
Sound Recordist
~~Boom Operator~~
~~2nd AD~~
2nd AC
Grip
1-2 PA's

Casting done:
Found 2 1 office space for casting

Casting yet to be done:
3 casting session days- at least
Get cast (2 leads & 2 supporting)
Get 5-7 extras

Locations we have:
Side of the Street
Beach
INT/EXT House

Crematorium

Locations we need:
Cemetery

Props we have:
book of prayers, holy water, flowers, coat hanger, shoe box, purses, table, mail, mud, something to trip over.

Props we need:
casket, urn, ~~vases~~, velvet covering, rope around casket, wedding picture, ~~pepper spray bottle~~, shoe heel, ~~airsoft gun~~, ~~ashes~~, exploding head?? (LOL)

MU/Wardrobe we have:
Black clothes

MU/Wardrobe we need:
Properly fitting funeral attire, priestly garb, 2 ladies outfits w/ purses, his graveclothes, Zombie MU

So, thats it!

For right now, I need to solidify the casting times at these locations (should be Sat morning the 5th in ~~Largo~~ (also now in St. Pete), and then, Mon 7th from 6-9pm & Tue 8th from 6-9pm in St. Pete), so that i can send out the casting call. Then I need to solidify the SFX MU person (its in between two people right now) and the Sound people. Then we need to have a production meeting and make sure we are all on the same page- we're gonna get this ball rolling forward and then, punch out people getting in our way! Just kidding! :D

Which reminds me, I just went to a screenwriters meeting and it was very fun and encouraging to hear that people there really liked the script and hoped the shooting goes well... they were very supportive! It just goes to show that every little bit of encouragement you can get goes a long way to holding back the discouragement that trials & tribulations can weigh down on you. Get a shot of enthusiasm & know that if you keep pushing forward, even if it all seems hopeless now- it will come together...

Thx for reading!

Behind the Scenes of "Death Do Us Part" - Part 1

2011-01-21T00:09:00.003-05:00

here is our first BTS video...

I will keep everyone updated with more detail here as things occur...
Thx for watching =)

Jon

Liberty No. 5 Pictures in Development (2)

2010-12-23T01:14:00.007-05:00

So, a little update on the films slated to be shot in the near future. I'm trying to get better at making more realistic goals so I think I have a need to update this list based on some new 'value changes'. I am trying to really focus on the projects most important to me... the ones that I know if things get hard, I will trudge on regardless, because I care about them getting made that much. The shorts I have slated are not because I want to make them but because I need to make them. So, they are functional tests in reality. But they should also be good quality and fun to watch. In reality though, if I make one or five of them I don't really care... because what I really want is to seriously do this as a full-time job- so I really want to make feature films. Not to mention it is hard to say anything with any complexity in a five or even fifteen minute short subject. Really, in my opinion, I want to do 'world-building'. To create an entire universe to build on... with rules and boundaries and a rawness of its own to explore. This is what I was taught in my 'gifted' middle school... to brainstorm. To look in on the system from outside the box and critique it to make something new! I have always found it to be endlessly exciting on so many levels! So, here is my current list.

Short Subjects

"Death Do Us Part" -- Pre-Production Phase -- Jan 2011

"Lunch Date" -- Pre-Production Phase -- Apr 2011

"4 Corners" -- In Development -- June 2011

Features

"Punishment" -- In Development -- Nov 2011

"Transmission" -- In Development -- Apr 2013

"Transmission" is a sci-fi epic I have planned which will be like my Star Wars. There is little else to say about it except I know it will be very powerful and groundbreaking. This is because it is not only an artistically original concept, but it is a change in form for the viewer. At least that is my plan. It depends on how well I achieve these first films that will be the judge of my achieving the vision I desire. But, I know there are far greater forces at work in me that will ensure I succeed or fail, so my attention on the matter is very important, but sometimes, I can do nothing to change the course of such outcomes... as sometimes we are all victims of this fate, we must nevertheless, be faithful to our vision. True to our conviction 'til the end.

I suppose part of the reason I am including it on this list is that I want people to know that I intend to be mostly a creator of sci-fi and fantasy epic genre films... not really psychological-thrillers like "Punishment". But, psych-thrillers are a good genre for beginning filmmakers to make a break into the industry with. The sci-fi or fantasy genre is primarily what I dream of when I imagine deep stories that make a statement. I'm sure there will be times I may be limited in my opportunities to make what I desire, I may need to be adaptable in order to make work for myself, but since I am not a believer in making halfway-good movies or making them for the sake of making them, it may at times be difficult to achieve this. I just have to admit that most of the original stories I have that I really consider good are sci-fi or fantasy epics. To be more specific, I have about 5 or 6 good sci-fi-fantasies (at least one of them, hopefully, will be a trilogy) planned after "Transmission". Also, I am hoping to be a part of making C.S. Lewis' Sci-Fi Trilogy which I pretty much grew up on, even before I got into J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" mytho-fantasy series.

It is very ambitious for me to want this, I admit, but I want to ensure, that people know I am working towards this goal, so that one day I can give the world the greatest interpretation of those books to film possible. Something that we can all love as a great story... and a great adventure into the depths of space.

My Director Watch

2010-10-25T00:42:00.112-04:00

[I will be updating this list often] My director watch is like a neighborhood watch. We don't get paid to do it, but we all benefit in so many unspeakable ways when we have a good one. So, I wanted to put my 5 cents in and tell you all about the directors I watch to see how these currently working, cutting edge filmmakers are impacting the way we all watch movies. I will list them in alphabetical order, including the films they are known by here in the US of A and I will do this in three sections... for the 'generation' of filmmaking they belong to.

First, the old Hollywood bunch. Many of these used to be called the "New Hollywood" bunch in the 80's. These are directors who have proven themselves to be masters of cinema and have still remained relevant and a vital part of the film industry regardless of some ups and downs. I have left out the master directors who have passed on... leaving their legacy of greatness behind them. Second, will be the currently "en vogue" directors with a strong track record (at least three good movies) or directors who at least have made a strong performance as a director when they are not practicing their other chosen disciplines apart from directing features (such as J. J. Abrams, who does a lot of Producing and TV directing). So, when they direct films it may be somewhat sporadic but it is usually quite successful. But keep in mind, they are no newbie to the film industry. And third, I will list the fresh new directorial arrivals to the film industry. They may be game changers or directors who appear to have potential even though they only have one or two good films under their belt. So, without further adieu...

The Hollywood Master Directors

James Cameron
Piranha II, Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic, Avatar, Avatar 2

John Carpenter
Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, Christine, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A., Vampires, Ghosts of Mars, The Ward

Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather, The Conversation, Godfather II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Godfather III, Dracula, The Rainmaker, Youth Without Youth, Tetro, Twixt Now and Sunrise

Clint Eastwood
Unforgiven, A Perfect World, Bridges of Madison County, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, Absolute Power, True Crime, Space Cowboys, Blood Work, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino, Invictus, Hereafter, J. Edgar

Terry Gilliam
Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Brazil, Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, Tideland, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Werner Herzog
Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Fitzcarraldo, Invincible, Rescue Dawn, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done, Cave of Forgotten Dreams

George Lucas
THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars Franchise

Martin Scorcese
Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, After Hours, Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Age of Innocence, Casino, Kundun, Bringing Out The Dead, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo Cabret (post), Silence (pre)

Ridley Scott
Duelists, Alien, Blade Runner, Legend, Someone to Watch Over Me, Black Rain, Thelma & Louise, 1492, White Squall, GI Jane, Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven, A Good Year, American Gangster, Body of Lies, Robin Hood, Prometheus

Stephen Spielberg
Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones Movies, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, AI: Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, War of the Worlds, Munich, The Adventures of Tintin (in post), War Horse (in post), Lincoln (pre), Robopocalypse (pre)

The Currently En Vogue Directors

J. J. Abrams
Alias (TV), Lost (TV), Mission Impossible III, Star Trek (2009), Super 8

P. T. Anderson
Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master (pre)

Wes Anderson
Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom (filming)

Judd Apatow
40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This is Forty (pre)

Darren Aronofsky
Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Machine Man (pre)

Michael Bay
Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II, The Island, Transformers, Transformers II, Transformers III

Kathryn Bigelow
Near Dark, Blue Steel, Point Break, Strange Days, The Weight of Water, K-19: The Widowmaker, The Hurt Locker

Timur Bekmambetov
Night Watch, Day Watch, Wanted, 9, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (pre)

Danny Boyle
Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Trance (pre)

Edward Burns
The Brothers McMullen, She's the One, No Looking Back, Sidewalks of New York, Ash Wednesday, Looking for Kitty, The Groomsman, Purple Violets, Nice Guy Johnny, Newlyweds

Tim Burton
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetle Juice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows (pre), Frankenweenie (pre)

D. J. Caruso
The Salton Sea, Taking Lives, Disturbia, Eagle Eye, I Am Number Four

Park Chan-Wook
Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Thirst, Stoker (pre)

Joel & Ethan Coen
Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Millers Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn't There, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, No Country For Old Men, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, True Grit

Sofia Coppola
The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Somewhere

Alfonso Cuaron
Great Expectations, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Gravity (filming)

Guillermo Del Toro
Blade II, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Pacific Rim (pre)

Roland Emmerich
Making Contact, Moon 44, Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot, Day After Tomorrow, 10,000BC, 2012, Anonymous

David Fincher
Alien 3, Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Marc Forster
Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Stay, Stranger Than Fiction, Quantum of Solace, Machine Gun Preacher (post), World War Z (pre)

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Intact, 28 Weeks Later, Intruders, The Crow (pre)

Mel Gibson
Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto

Michel Gondry
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, The Green Hornet, The We and the I (pre)

Paul Greengrass
Resurrected, The Theory of Flight, Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy, United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum, Green Zone

Davis Guggenheim
An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman

Mikael Hafstrom
Evil, Derailed, 1408, The Rite

Michael Haneke
Code Unknown, The Piano Teacher, Cache (Hidden), Funny Games, The White Ribbon, Amour (post)

Jered Hess
Napolean Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Gentlemen Broncos

John Hillcoat
The Proposition, The Road, The Wettest County in the World (post)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful

Peter Jackson
Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Dead Alive, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, The Hobbit Parts 1 & 2 (filming)

Jim Jarmusch
Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, Mystery Train, Dead Man, Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai, Coffee and Cigarettes, Broken Flowers, Limits of Control, Untitled Project (pre)

Spike Jonze
Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., Where the Wild Things Are

Wong Kar-Wai
Chunking Express, In the Mood for Love, 2046, My Blueberry Nights

Richard Kelly
Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, The Box, Corpus Christi (pre)

Francis Lawrence
Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants

Ang Lee
Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, Brokeback Mountain, Lust Caution, Taking Woodstock, Life of Pi (filming)

Richard Linklater
Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, School of Rock, Before Sunset, A Scanner Darkly, Fast Food Nation, Me and Orson Welles, Bernie

David Lynch
Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks (TV), Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Rabbits, Inland Empire

Terrence Malick
Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life

Michael Mann
Thief, The Keep, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Ali, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies

Adam McKay
Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys

Sam Mendes
American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, 'Bond No. 23'

John Cameron Mitchell

Hedwig & the Angry Inch, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole

Michael Moore
Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, Capitalism: A Love Story

Vincenzo Natali
Cube, Cypher, Nothing, Splice, High Rise (post), Neuromancer (pre)

Christopher Nolan
Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises (filming)

Wolfgang Petersen
Das Boot, The Neverending Story, In the Line of Fire, Outbreak, The Perfect Storm, Troy, Poseidon, Paprika

Alex Proyas
Spirits of the Air Gremlins of the Clouds, The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot, Knowing, Paradise Lost (pre)

Sam Raimi
Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Darkman, Army of Darkness, The Quick and the Dead, Spiderman Franchise, Drag Me To Hell, Oz: The Great & Powerful (pre)

Matt Reeves
Cloverfield, Let Me In, Untitled Cloverfield Sequel (pre)

Ivan Reitman
Foxy Lady, Cannibal Girls, Meatballs, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Legal Eagles, Twins, Ghostbusters II, Kindergarten Cop, Dave, Junior, Fathers' Day, Six Days Seven Nights, Evolution, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, No Strings Attached, Ghostbusters III (pre)

Jason Reitman
Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up In The Air, Young Adult (post)

Nicholas Winding Refn
Pusher, Bleeder, Fear X, With Blood On My Hands: Pusher II, I'm the Angel of Death: Pusher III, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, Drive, Only God Forgives (pre), Logan's Run (pre)

Guy Ritchie
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch., Swept Away, Revolver, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes, Excalibur (pre)

Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, Spy Kids 3, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Sin City, Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Planet Terror, Shorts, Machete, Spy Kids 4

Mark Romanek
Static, One Hour Photo, Never Let Me Go

David O. Russell
Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter, Nailed (post), The Silver Linings Playbook (pre)

Joel Schumacher
The Lost Boys, Flatliners, Falling Down, Batman Forever, The Phantom of the Opera, The Number 23, Blood Creek, Twelve, Man in the Mirror, Trespass (post)

Tony Scott
The Hunger, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Revenge, Days of Thunder, The Last Boyscout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, The Fan, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Domino, Deja Vu, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Unstoppable, Emma's War (pre)

M. Night Shyamalan
The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady In The Water, The Last Airbender

Bryan Singer
The Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, Jack the Giant Killer (post), Battlestar Gallactica (pre)

Kevin Smith
Clerks., Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, Clerks II, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Cop Out, Red State, Hit Somebody (pre)

Zack Snyder
Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Sucker Punch, The Man of Steel (pre)

Steven Soderburgh
Sex Lies and Videotape, Kafka, The Underneath, Out of Sight, The Limey, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Ocean's 11, Solaris, Ocean's 12, Bubble, The Good German, Ocean's 13, Che, The Girlfriend Experience, The Informant!, Haywire, Contagion, Man from U.N.C.L.E. (pre), Magic Mike (pre), Liberace (pre)

Quentin Tarantino
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Vol I-II, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained (pre), Kill Bill: Vol III (pre)

Gus Van Sant
My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Psycho (1998), Finding Forrester, Elephant, Paranoid Park, Milk, Restless

Gore Verbinski
The Mexican, The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean I-III, The Weather Man, Rango

The Wachowskis
Bound, The Matrix Trilogy, Speed Racer, Untitled Project (pre), Cobalt Neural 9 (pre), Cloud Atlas (pre)

Joss Whedon
Firefly (TV), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (TV), Angel (TV), Serenity, Thor, The Avengers (pre)

Edgar Wright
Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Them, Ant-Man

Joe Wright
Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, The Soloist, Hanna

The New Directors with Fresh Eyes
They have made 1-3 films with at least one film that speaks with a new and skillful voice.

Jeffrey Blitz- Rocket Science
Neill Blomkamp- District 9, Elysium (pre)
Joe Cornish- Attack the Block
Lena Dunham- Tiny Furniture
Gareth Edwards- Monsters
Chris Fuller- Loren Cass

Debra Granik- Down to the Bone, Winters Bone

Ian Hubert- SBFP, Ideality, Project London

Rian Johnson- Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper (post)

Duncan Jones- Moon, Source Code, Untitled Sci-Fi (pre)

Paul Johanssen- Atlas Shrugged: Part I

Jennifer Chambers Lynch- Surveillance, Hisss

Greg Marcks- 11:14, Echelon Conspiracy

John Maybury- The Jacket

Kelly Reichardt- Wendy & Lucy, Meek's Cutoff

Daniel Stamm- A Necessary Death, The Last Exorcism

M Dot Strange- We Are The Strange, Heart String Marionette

Red & Jim Jannard finally tell us what kind of company they are

2010-10-04T15:07:00.011-04:00

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?p=660570#post660570

As I predicted in my last article RED needed to accept their place as a pro camera company & that is exactly what they did! As Jim Jannard's announcement indicates, RED is finally starting to get it and will draw the line better as it comes to what kind of company they are. Which, I think, should help them carve out a better niche for themselves. It was about time they admitted the obvious. My hope is that, now, the company will be finding its footing better and accepting its limitations even more. Then they can start to recognize who their true competition is. here's a hint... it's NOT Canon & Nikon!

My view of the digital camera markets can be compared to some degree with the old film camera markets...

Current Digital Camera Markets
1. DSLR's & prosumer cams ---> 2. Panny & Sony Broadcast Professional HD Cameras ---> 3. RED, ARRI, Panavisions & Studio developed experimental cameras.

As compared to the Film Camera Markets from back in the day...
1. Standard 8 & Super 8 ---> 2. 16 & Super 16 ---> 3. 35mm & other experimental studio tech.

Of course there are sub-markets within these as there is more experimentation and innovation (just like with Red) but these smaller markets will only flux temporarily.

This all makes sense because each of these markets are meeting distinct needs in the marketplace. Lots of filmmakers including Spielberg & M. Night back in the day started with a Super 8 shooting family events & small shorts films in their back yard- then they moved up to 16 in film school and then by that time they understood how the whole theory works and all the ensuing implications with lighting, developing, camera moves, etc. They could realistically handle the Panavisions and could deal with the greater responsibility of that. The same is now true with the DSLR's all the way up to RED, ARRI etc.

So, as you can see, my beef with RED is that they are acting ridiculous by making fun of DSLR shooters. Panavision would never be ridiculous enough to making fun of Ricoh, Rollei, Bolex or Canon back in the 70's or 80's because they shot on a smaller format and their sync-sound wasn't as good... or they weren't as smooth running... or they were too noisy to be used for proper filmmaking purposes... that is really only going to make you look like an idiot.

They, hopefully, will continue to admit they are in a different market & then they will stop making noise in the back of the classroom like annoying little brats. RED has to learn to not sling mud and to stand apart as a different kind of company. Let it be a plus that your cameras will be undercutting other cameras in your market... that is a good thing! And try not to make the Spielbergs of tomorrow feel bad for starting their careers with DSLR's...

By the way- HDR isnt that much of an advancement, RED. In many ways, no more advanced than 3D. Here's a Canon 5DmkII shooting HDR video on vimeo. Just get us a new camera that continues the next big thing in pro filmmaking... thank you very much! aaahhhh. LOL. Im just kidding!

But, all kidding aside, I do appreciate every bit of new filmmaking tech out there from your company and from ANY of these other great companies, so thank you very much Mr. Jannard- just please learn to respect your peers sir- Canon, Nikon, Panny... these other companies are still just as relevant as your company (even Panavision!). In some ways, more so. They have a more vibrant, colorful and profitable history than yours. You're the next big thing- but don't think the old guard are gone- they are just as relevant as ever.

I'm still hoping that there will be advances in digital screening technology with the help of RED at some point-- we need a slew of new high res theaters out there. IMHO it will help continue the resurgence of the theater experience for the film exhibition industry as well... then we will SEE the evidence of RED's advanced tech better as compared to the competition. Can't you see that this better screening environment will also greatly increase the amount of sales for your cameras? hmmmmm. That this isn't discussed concerns me. The screening tech must flux WITH the camera markets at some point- but, as most of use realize in this industry, there is not much innovation in the exhibition markets. LOL.

Good luck to you & congratulations on finding your niche RED!! In the meantime- I just got my hands on a Canon 60D and will be shooting what I can as a beginning director (no longer just a producer, scripty & videographer)- I'll be learning to work within the limitations of the tech & doing what I can to still tell stories. Whatever piece of equipment I can get to help me make better films... that's what I will buy. Wish me luck and hopefully by the time you come out with Scarlet- I'll be able to see how all this extra time working on it paid off! Or maybe by then you will deserve the ridicule & scorn you have heaped on others.

Finally some Scarlet talk... but what can RED do about the new DSLR Revolution?

2010-06-17T10:37:00.014-04:00

Is RED & Jim Jannard all talky talk no action? Will the Scarlet stand up to the HD-SLR's? Should HDSLR shooters be 'ashamed'?

http://www.eoshd.com/content/255-RED-quot-DSLR-shooters-should-be-embarrassed-quot

My opinion is that there are two Revolutions & two Markets going on here... they are being formed presently & they are represented by (1) an indy filmmaking revolution using existing avenues of distribution technology -the HD-SLR Revolution and (2) a revolution in cinema technology standards with the 4-6k RED cameras (said to also include a much higher resolution with the Epic sensors) -the SHD Revolution, which still has a work to be done (and that work ISN'T 'knocking down' the Canon/Nikon/Panasonics of the world because we are talking apples & oranges here). "How so?" you say...

Since the RED cameras represent a much more substantial change to the totality of filmmaking & screening technology it is simply more time consuming (& therefore costly) down the line as this technology comes into use more (but it is a revolution that is worth it in the long run).

But the HD-SLR revolution utilizes already present technology not just in use in homes- but on the web & on your smart phone... in other words it is cheaper and easier for a filmmaker to create content because he doesn't have to be involved in revolutionizing the entire process cradle-to-grave the way RED is going to have to do- he just plugs into an already established technology.

But this issue with RED is all unavoidable because of the implications of this newer technology- I mean, it truly must be a huge, no doubt, beautiful picture at such a high res!... Now, where can we screen it? Can it even be screened? Can it be broadcast? Can it be viewed online or at home? Of course distribution has to be considered by everyone involved. In contrast, it is much more financially sound to shoot in 1080p with a $2k rig with less crew requirements and still be able to distribute!

Getting down to brass tax I think RED & their reps still have a work ahead of them to make this technology practical- to put this technology in theaters- to make it practical for consumers to consume, etc. They started this mess & they need to finish it (or rather, get the ball soundly rolling in the right direction). Admittedly, much of that great work has been done & is actively being done by many filmmakers, distributors & the studios. We just need to make sure we are on the right track & solving the right questions. We need to make sure the consumers out there can 'see the difference' between 2 and 6k & that it is worth the extra coin & worth the extra hype because they haven't even seen 6k yet & still don't even know what it is yet.

Not that RED shouldn't continue to compete on a professional filmmaking level with the HD-SLR's in order to draw that line-in-the-sand. What RED has to do is solve the problems the HD-SLR's have and assist the move towards a more cinematic experience by making 'the quintessential professional SHD-SLR run & gun shooter' in the Scarlet. But this time do it without blowing smoke at the users.

I mean, listen, it is obvious RED dropped the ball this year. Use me as an example (& this is true for so many other current or beginning filmmakers) -this is me in a nutshell... since last year I was going to buy a Scarlet earlier this year so I could start shooting my own stuff (instead of hiring out) but now I'm investing in a Canon HD-SLR rig with LED lights, Zoom sound & portable power supply instead... because of all the obvious financial reasons... doing all this costs the same amount that a Scarlet was supposed to cost this year. Isn't that great?

Well, also, as filmmakers we need to recognize (& RED needs to remember this), ART doesn't wait to get made- when the inspiration hits, MAKE IT & MAKE IT NOW! DON'T WAIT! I understand RED can't just follow this principle as a camera & software development company that has to be regulated & has to meet certain standards- you can't do what you want... but as filmmakers we have to live by this principle... we kind of can't wait for the next big thing... we have to go out & shoot our story right now & fix it later (maybe shoot it again but next time on a Scarlet- nothing wrong with that). But any business needs to remember, just like RED, if any company makes promises it can't keep, it is in danger of failing.

The PAYOFF for RED or... (for whoever makes that connection):

So, again, IMHO RED's current work is that it needs to assist the digital cinema side of the business by doing some research & making a clear path for cinemas to follow in the path they've blazed... so they know how best to utilize their technology so the consumers go back to the theaters. If they do that they will ensure the relevance of their product for years to come. After all, almost all of the major studios in Hollywood started in the 1st half of the 1900's by the distribution side of the business- like the nickelodeons, etc. and that is how the the new players in film & cinema distribution can come into their own- through the distribution side of it- of course, by following these new standards that RED has pioneered! So, whoever teams up with RED to do this on a larger scale may just end up with the big payoff. But, who these people will be in the future is still TBD! Sadly, though, the movie business has been traveling as fast as its slowest ship, which is the internet. Of course this is obviously because of the incredible potential for distribution ("What? Movie distribution pipe-lined straight to every consumer? Yowsers!"), but it is also potentially the movie businesses' worst enemy as it represents the easiest way to rip-off the industry through piracy... or is it free advertising? I'm confused! What a conundrum!

Puttin down the sauce:

My prediction on the Revolutions? Well, eventually what might happen is that (1) full HD would be the standard internet video res so consumers can get everything on the internet on their screens at home... & (2) RED's 4, 5, or 6k (what i call SHD or Super-Hi-Definition & I believe Steven Soderbergh called it that too) could be the new cinema standard that the big studios utilize IF it can finally be brought to theaters successfully(?). Pretty please? :)

The other factor is home theater. It's the gap-factor. What home theater does is in the hands of these LCD & computer manufacturers... nothing less, nothing more. They can charge massive coin to get 4k at home if need be...

But, to re-iterate, if this is achieved (internet on one end, theaters on the other) there would be a clear cut difference between these markets (2k res made by indy filmmakers with prosumer HD-SLR's for the internet/TV & 4k up to ?k resolution (SHD) made by the Major Studios with RED, ARRI, etc for the digital cinemas).

This division between technology is actually desirable for many reasons... First of all, it simplifies things for the consumer and therefore justifies a higher cost for certain products. Secondly, it simplifies things for the studios & filmmakers- since there's too many problems to solve right now as it comes to standards in technology... filmmakers & content-makers have now been engaged in this endless debate for years since the indy filmmaking surge in the 90's, since HD has come to all the networks & now the gap grows larger since the advent of this new camera technology. Currently, its all just techno-chaos for the studios so they don't know how to relate to their audience as well. In order for the studios to continue making money they have to standardize and control some niche just like any business tries to do. So do they go to 3D? Do they spend money on servers & internet distro sites like iTunes/hulu/Netflix, etc? Do they upload their product to theaters with all the new digital distribution models being touted around in that industry? What about the resolution discussion and all the new technology? How do the studios require the indy filmmakers to hold up to certain standards of filmmaking when we are all over the map here?

As it comes to the big digital cinema distribution discussion Hollywood can control its own by helping to make 4k, 5k, 6k theaters and selling the hi-res beauty of that... if they can 'sell it' good enough, people will want to see the theater version of it & will not accept a 2k pirated version as 'the real deal'. It's too large of a file to pirate (at least for most) it might even be able to be uploaded to digital theaters but obviously it would cost too much for pirates to upload it- they wouldn't be able to screen it in full 4-6k glory even if they found some way to pirate it- but don't see that as some lame excuse to let people pirate it because you think "it doesnt matter". As editing suites get better in order to edit this 4-6k content we will need to make these monitors more affordable for editors. At that point there will be pirating that will begin to make sense again because then they can view the content. But, if you control the technology, you control the doorways to the content. Problem solved. As it comes to the editing- editors will edit a low res version & then send it to a 4-6k render house to be 'developed' (sound familiar?) and in this case utilize the meta-data to help make it what it should be in its full 4-6k glory or whatever res can be offered (I keep assuming 4-6k for some silly reason). Then it can be screened for the final pass at the render house's digital theater with the producers, director & editor -etc etc.

As it comes to the original discussion of HD-SLR vs. RED... the fact is, RED was on track to keep the revolution brimming- but Canon, Nikon & Panasonic got it right by undercutting them (which is what they should do to compete). After all, it's these prosumer camera companies that started this revolution in the late eighties/early nineties because it brought the tech down to the consumer- but RED really isn't a consumer or even prosumer cam & it really shouldn't try to act like it competes in that market. In fact just the word 'cam' and RED don't belong in the same paragraph except to make the distinction. It just don't sound right... *snicker* :P

As it comes to the Scarlet- you can try to talk the talk, RED- but the caveat is that you have to buy that right by first walking the walk... So until the Scarlet hits the stores- it is the HD-SLR Revolution for me. Hopefully something of mine gets sold & then, with that happening, maybe afterwards I can afford what RED is cooking up. But I wish all of you some good testing, manufacturing & product reviews. Til then, a little more action- a little less talky talk. At least for now. But please, RED, let us know when you have something to show... we can't wait much longer... because the street cred is starting to wither a bit.

Jon

Liberty No. 5 Pictures In Development

2010-05-13T19:52:00.008-04:00

Here are the projects slated to be shot in the coming months & years in various stages of development as of Aug 2010. The shorts are working up to my Crime Thriller, "Punishment", planned as my first feature. I have been writing and re-writing for the last year or so and have had difficulty finding a good, team oriented, experimental Cinematographer/DP since I have some strong technical ideas and would prefer as little conflict between who I think are "the two most important people on set" during production. Frankly, when you see this kind of conflict on set its always sad because it feels like its like watching your parents fight- its really sad & stupid looking at the same time. And its especially demoralizing to know the Director & DP are more unprofessional & juvenile than I am. So, I want to prevent these things from happening & so, I have put a lot of time trying to find the proper team & proper story working together-- and hopefully it will pay off.

Short Subjects

"Death Do Us Part" -- Pre-Production Phase -- Sept 2010
"Should I Make A Movie?" -- Pre-Production Phase -- Nov 2010
"4 Corners" -- In Development -- Dec 2010
[Untitled Steampunk Feature Camera Tests] -- In Development -- Jan 2011

Features

"Punishment" -- In Development -- Feb 2011
"Bad Day" -- In Development -- Nov 2011
"Deadman's Caye" -- In Development -- Jun 2012
[Untitled Steampunk Scifi-Western] -- In Development -- Feb 2013

Of course, I am working on other people's projects as well. Some as a Producer or as an AC (So that I can learn more about camera right now), but I could also stand to get more work as an AD, PM, or Script Sup. I have learned how to do breakdowns better since the last feature I worked on- I might even use my own custom made production strip boards utilizing colored cardstock cut into business card size scene strips... a very practical design. After I use them on this next production I am working on... a short for the Action Film Challenge... it will no doubt become a more perfected system!

There are another 10 feature films or so planned from my own stories but I try not to put too much on my plate at one time. Heh heh...

A Little Friendly Competition for the RED??

2010-04-08T00:08:00.004-04:00

Check out ARRI's new Alexa... the super high-definition digital cinema revolution continues...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/17/arri-alexa-joins-red-to-kill-celluloid-in-2010/

pretty sweet but still pretty expensive! But regardless of the price- it looks like there's definitely a solid market out there for these cameras though!

A Good Use for the iPad!

2010-03-31T17:58:00.006-04:00

The good thing about the iPad

VIV Mag Interactive Feature Spread - iPad Demo from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

~go here for the making of
http://vimeo.com/10204353

~go here for the complete version
http://alexxhenry.com/ipad

I have to say I honestly didnt see the usefulness of the iPad when I 1st heard about it... and I LOVE Apple products! I have an iPhone and I have to admit hearing of the idea of the iPad described as basically a large iPhone kind of conjured up some strange imagery for me. Basically of the iPad being held awkwardly on the side of my ear to try to make a call & looking frustratingly for WiFi hot spots so I could make the best use of the silly oversized phone! I know that there is no phone or camera on the iPad but I kept getting that imagery the more I imagined why I would get an iPad.

My primary frustration with the iPad (& the reason I didn't initially want to buy one) was coming from the sad resignation (after reading about it) that it could not be used to ingest footage shot on set as it has no FW ports & no SD card slots. Also, it has its own OS that cannot operate normal programs- only iPhone apps & apps soon made for the iPad & again distributed through iTunes just as the iPhone gets its apps. Oh well- maybe a mutation between a laptop & an iPad will come sometime soon.???

-Just as a suggestion to the iPad app makers. I do have to say- as a filmmaker who likes reliable mobile technology that can be useful on a film set- goodness gracious... the apps you could make for an iPad to help with on set productivity are endlessly awesome!!!! For example- as a better tool for the AD, Script Supervisor, PM & Camera Loader all in one! So, in effect it could be used as a better clapboard and as a note-taking, breakdown, scheduling, record keeping & budgeting tool all in one! Also it could much more easily synchronize timecode as a more advanced device than simply a device using radio signals as its transmission medium or some other more inefficient system. I would advise Celtx (the open source program) to develop an iPhone app to do some of these jobs & then adapt into the iPad once it has got the coding down. Im sure Celtx would make the best & the most cost effective version of the iPad app if given the chance.

So- there IS a use for the iPad! yayy!!

Top Ten Rated-Updated

2010-01-06T17:40:00.022-05:00

This is my updated top ten list of favorite films...

Blade Runner (1)
Citizen Kane (2)
The Seven Samurai (3)
Star Wars (4)
Lord of the Rings (5)
The Maltese Falcon (6)
Alien (7)
No Country For Old Men (8)
Inception (9)
Synecdoche, New York (10)

Runner-up films (close but no cigar!):

12 Monkeys, 28 Weeks Later, 127 Hours, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now, Brazil, Buffalo 66, Casablanca, Children of Men, Cloverfield, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, District 9, Donnie Darko, Dr. Strangelove, Dune, The Elephantman, The Empire of the Sun, Europa, Fargo, Faust, Fight Club, Forrest Gump, The Gladiator, The Godfather, Kill Bill, Laura, Lawrence of Arabia, Lost Highway, Lost in Translation, The Matrix, Memento, Napoleon Dynamite, Never Let Me Go, Night of the Hunter, Nosferatu, Once Upon A Time in the West, Pi, Princess Mononoke, Pulp Fiction, Raiders of the Lost Arc, Rashomon, Rear Window, Rebecca, The Road, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Taxi Driver, Tetro, There Will Be Blood, The Third Man, Up In The Air, The Usual Suspects, Vanilla Sky, The Watchmen, We Are The Strange, Wings of Desire, Yojimbo.

Movies I have seen & loved (not that I expect this to interest anyone- this list reminds me of all the movies I've seen & that my top ten movies need to be better or on par with these films):

3:10 to Yuma, 9, 12 Monkeys, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, (500) Days of Summer, 1984, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Made Contact, A Clockwork Orange, A Simple Man, The Abyss, Airplane, Akira, Alien (7), Aliens, Alphaville, American Psycho, Apocalypse Now, Avatar, Back to the Future, Barton Fink, Batman Begins, Be Kind Rewind, Being John Malkovich, Big, The Big Lebowski, The Big Sleep, The Birds, Black Dynamite!, Blade Runner (1), Blazing Saddles, Blood Simple, The Blues Brothers, Bottle Rocket, The Box, The Bourne Movies, Braveheart, Brazil, The Breakfast Club, Brick, Buffalo 66, The 'Burbs, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Caddyshack, Casablanca, Casino Royale, Cast Away, Children of Men, Citizen Kane (2), The City of Lost Children, Clash of the Titans, Cliffhanger, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cloverfield, Coffee & Cigarettes, Collateral, Constantine, Coraline, Corpse Bride, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Crow, Darjeeling Limited, Dark City, Dark Country, The Dark Crystal, The Dark Knight, Dead Man, Death Proof, Delicatessen, Desperado, Detour (1946), District 9, Double Indemnity, Donnie Darko, Dr. Strangelove, Drag Me To Hell, Duel, Dumb & Dumber, Dune, East of Eden, Edward Scissorhands, The Elephantman, The Empire of the Sun, Eraserhead, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Equilibrium, Europa, Excalibur, Fahrenheit 451, Falling Down, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Fargo, Faust, The Fifth Element, Fight Club, Forrest Gump, The Fountain, Four Eyed Monsters, From Dusk 'Til Dawn, Galaxy Quest, Gaslight, Give 'Em Hell Malone, Gladiator, The Green Mile, The Godfather, The Goonies, Groundhog Day, The Happening, Harvey, Heat, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hellboy Movies, Hot Fuzz, The Hurt Locker, I Heart Huckabees, I Walk The Line, Inception (9), The Incredibles, Inglorious Basterds, Inland Empire, Interview with a Vampire, The Island, Ivanhoe, James Bond Movies, James and the Giant Peach, Jaws, Joe Versus the Volcano, Kick-Ass, Kill Bill, Kung Fu Hustle, Krull, The Labyrinth, Lady in the Water, Ladyhawk, Laura, Lawrence of Arabia, Legends of the Fall, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Lifeforce, Loaded Weapon 1, Logan's Run, Lord of the Rings Movies (5), Loren Cass, The Lost Boys, Lost Highway, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera, Lost in Translation, The Machinist, Mad Max, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Magnolia, The Maltese Falcon (6), The Man Who Knew Too Little, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Man with One Red Shoe, El Mariachi, Marie Antoinette, Mars Attacks!, The Matrix, Max Payne, Memento, Men in Black 1&2, Miller's Crossing, Minority Report, Mission Impossible 1-3, The Money Pit, Moon, Moulin Rogue!, Mulholland Dr, Mystery Men, Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, The Never Ending Story, Night of the Hunter, Night of the Living Dead, No Country For Old Men (8), No Way Out, North by Northwest, Nosferatu, Notorious, The Number 23, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Once Upon A Time in the West, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pan's Labyrinth, Pandorum, The Petrified Forest, Pi, Planet of the Apes, Primer, Princess Mononoke, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Punch-Drunk Love, Quantum of Solace, Raiders of the Lost Arc, Raising Arizona, Rashomon, Rear Window (Hitchcock's), Rebecca, Red Dawn, Renaissance, Reservoir Dogs, The Road, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, (Baz Lehrmann's) Romeo & Juliet, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Lu Samurai, Samurai Fiction, Saving Private Ryan, Serenity, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Seven Samurai (3), Shaun of the Dead, Signs, Silence of the Lambs, Sixth Sense, Sleepless in Seattle, Soilent Green, Spaceballs, Spartacus, Spirited Away, Star Trek (J. J. Abram's), Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Wars Movies (4), Stranger Than Fiction, Sunshine, Superbad, Synecdoche, New York (10), Taxi Driver, Tetro, Thank You For Smoking, There Will Be Blood, The Third Man, Time Bandits, Tokyo!, Tommy Boy, Top Secret, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Triplets of Belleville, Tropic Thunder, The Truman Show, Unbreakable, Underworld 1&2, Up, Up In The Air, The Usual Suspects, Van Helsing, Vanilla Sky, Vertigo, The Virgin Suicides, The Watchmen, We Are The Strange, West World, Where the Wild Things Are, Whip It!, Wings of Desire, Yes Man, Year One, Yojimbo (really- all of Akira Kurosawa's work! In fact I personally believe Mr. Kurosawa to be the greatest director of all time), Youth Without Youth, Zoolander, etc.

Misc: I like all James Bond movies (by the way, the Bond franchise and the 22 existing films in the catalog ARE IMHO the best, most successful franchise in movie history- something many people think belongs to other franchises they are enthusiastic about- but they are mistaken), I like Jim Carrey comedies, John Candy comedies, Danny Kaye comedies, Monty Python comedies, Leslie Nielsen comedies, Pink Panther comedies, ANYTHING with Humphrey Bogart, ... & i like some older 80's anime too but I'm not obsessive or a huge anime fan... & i guess i like some of the cult classic old 70's ninja/kung fu films with sonny chiba & bruce lee (the stuff that inspired anime & quentin tarantino)... its very fun to watch & to riff on!

Movies (new & old) I still have to see... and as soon as possible...

30 Days of Night, A Film With Me In It, Abandon, Adam, Adoration, Afterschool, American Gangster, American Graffiti, The Assassination of Jesse James..., Australia, Blood Diamond, Bright Star, Bruno, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Cypher, Dark City: Director's Cut, Easy A, Frida, Human Nature, I'm Not There, Inkheart, The Killing, The Kingdom, Land of the Dead, The Long Goodbye, The Man Who Cried, Michael Clayton, Percy Jackson, Prince of Persia (2010), Remember Me, Robin Hood (2010), Rock N Rolla, Role Models, Rudo y Cursi, S. Darko, Saint John of Las Vegas, Shane, The Shining, Shrink, Slumdog Millionaire, Snow Angels, Stray Dog, Sukiyaki Western Django, Sunrise, Superman Returns, The Thirteenth Floor, This Gun for Hire, Tideland, (Untitled), Valkyrie, Virtuosity, The Wrestler

"Filmmaking Hubs" Rated

2009-12-22T17:06:00.022-05:00

A change from my former ratings of "film cities" has been warranted since I have to admit I have changed my philosophy on it. The economy has changed quite a bit and it warrants a proper reaction to the situation. I made a large study on different film communities but I have found because of these new factors this study is for the most part pointless. Not in the sense that it is useless information but in the sense that survival is the higher priority than pursuing some sort of utopian filmmaker's & animator's city. Instead, I will explain my change of thinking and then offer some new information.

My humble opinion is that an 'independent' filmmaker should do one of two things. (1) "Dig" into your (or your chosen) community and support it with your whole being until you know everyone & everyone knows you in order to become a permanent fixture no matter how bad the economy is. Or (2) become incredibly independent & mobile and travel wherever work takes you. Find your reliable mode of transportation and a very cheap place to live that you can return to easily and simply grow your funds while staying lean & mean. In your travels find the best locale to invest your business profits and in a few years upgrade either your business or home in that area.

That being said, there will still be film industry hubs that would be better to work at than others and knowing those film hubs would be important. So, I will indicate my preferred film hubs & will let you know why I prefer those over others. Also, I am no longer including animation hubs in my film study because usually those areas overlap with film hubs & where they dont overlap- there will not be enough animation jobs to justify calling it a "hub" at all which no longer makes it enough of an influential area if you really are making film or animation your career.

OK! I have 5 priorities in each of these film hubs. 'Cheap' being relative costs of property, taxes and standard of living as compared to other hubs. 'Industry' being the presence of Film Industry (Infrastructure, Studios, larger Production Companies, Union Jobs, large Film Festivals, big-budget filmmaking resources, Societies, Film Incentives, and a good Film Office). Some have strong animation and not strong film (or visa versa) which can bring down the score. 'Film Community' is the presence of a supportive local film community (such as a tight knit group of supportive fellow Indy Filmmakers, Film Societies, Film or Art Schools, independent film festivals, filmmaking services, Film Incentives favoring Independent Filmmakers, Community Theaters, Micro-Cinemas, Non-Profits, & possibly some local artistic organizations to help build a stronger art-centric or cinema-centric community). An Indy filmmaking spirit really helps here. Also, a right to work state is essential in fostering an indy filmmaking influence in the community. 'Livable' is like the 'comfort index' based on the measure of cosmopolitan, modern, convenient, diverse, and unique things to do in that community. A coffee house culture, walkability & bikeability helps here. Also, the uncomfortability of extreme weather can contribute to very 'unlivable' conditions. 'Family' is the sense of security a neighborhood has because of certain benefits present in that community. I get it from a combination of crime stats, local neighborhood morale, clean neighborhoods, sufficient government services and a neighborhood watch presence or something like it. I combined this rating with the formerly known 'Community' rating which was the sense that not only is crime low but the community is somewhat family friendly and has good schools to show for it. Parks and recreational areas or theme parks are a plus here as well. If you are having difficulty distinguishing between 'Livable' & 'Family' as they are both a sort of 'comfort' index... just think of 'Livable' as a good area for single, career types to live at and 'Family' as a good area for filmmakers with a family.

I have, of course, rated these based on what I know now from these communities.

The Film Hubs (1-10): 1st being good, & 10th being, well... 10th!

Priorities: | Cheap | Industry | Film Community | Livable | Family | Total |

1. NYC Film Hub- 2 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 3 - 34
2. Seattle/Vancouver/Portland Film Hub- 5 - 6 - 7 - 9 - 7 - 34
3. Florida Film Hub- 8 - 3 - 6 - 7 - 9 - 33
4. New England Film Hub- 6 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 33
5. Texas Film Hub- 7 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 6 - 32
6. Pittsburgh/Cleveland Film Hub- 5 - 5 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 29
7. Georgia Film Hub- 7 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 29
8. Michigan Film Hub- 5 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 9 - 29
9. Louisiana Film Hub- 6 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 29
10. Chicago/Milwaukee Film Hub- 2 - 8 - 4 - 7 - 6 - 27

I know- CA is not included... yea I have heard WAY too many horror stories about people 'trying to make it in Cali'... it is exactly NOT where to go to make waves. Its where to go if you are selling out so you can become famous- which is just the smoke being blown at you- don't be stupid- DON"T believe the hype! It is basically a recipe for heartache & a recipe for no artistic freedom or artistic integrity. On the other hand- once you make a good successful team & you can guide your own projects because you have bought your ticket with a good film that the industry respects- you probably could move there & it might even do you good to move there. A lot of successful filmmakers never move there though- they only visit to do business- and they are doing just fine!

About the decision to move or to collaborate, well, let's talk about it! Otherwise its not much of a collaboration, is it? None of this should be taken lightly because it is would be an expensive mistake right now to move to the wrong area. To be honest, like I said earlier, this is REALLY a personal decision... nothing more. It has to also be a win-win situation or I don't want to collaborate with anyone.

Thanx for reading!

Where have I been?

2009-12-22T15:54:00.010-05:00

Ive been lost in a world of filmmaking! A world of my own creation! A world where people need to have confidentiality clauses in their contracts...

Yes, I haven't really been maintaining this blog very well! The LIBERTY No. 5 POST is supposed to be a massive part of my filmmaking research & discovery process into the world of "the Industry". But, since I was involved in making a feature earlier this year I stopped posting, not because I didn't have anything to say but because much of what I was thinking & talking about was basically intellectual property of the company that was formed to make the film I was working on. I also haven't posted very many pictures (of my experiences there) on the internet for the same reason. I have not been given free reign to post them officially, although I doubt anyone would care that much-- it depends on who is using them & for what purpose (ie. do not post pictures on FB!!!). Anyways, back to the real post here...

I have kept the Liberty No. 5 blog alive (my personal producing/directing company is called "Liberty No. 5 Pictures" by the way) because there are so many great resources I've spent a lot of time gathering on here. Which reminds me, if you are looking for information on filmmaking subjects, etc... you should give some of the side links a gander. Many of them are great sources of info for filmmakers!

I will be posting more again very soon as I am now starting a new project... my own feature film... which isn't really my own (ha ha)!! I always find it interesting the obsessiveness people have about their 'favorite' Directors and that Director's artistry and 'ownership' of 'their' films. Knowing what I know, films are no more the producer's or director's work than the grip's or PA's work... but the Producers & Directors certainly take more risk & bear more responsibility than anyone else involved (to be specific, films are usually the Studio's, Distributor's or Private Investor's property speaking 'factually')... but that's besides the point here.

I have learned then, as it comes to the 'artistic ownership' which is what we are talking about here... that it is really the film's cast & the entire film crew (above & below the line) that makes a film's artistry what it is and that leads many times to a successful film or not. Also, the real ART that producers & directors have is to get the RIGHT cast & crew (and possibly, the right source of funding) together in the RIGHT way! Especially humble, trusted, professional sorts who work well under pressure... these are the sorts that seem to succeed! These are the one's I feel can take responsibility for their jobs & commit to learn & to practice professional arts without bringing in a bunch of drama or slackerdom to the set.

One thing I really dislike is when I see people passing the buck & gossiping about others. When things get rough during filmmaking, and they will... there is always something negative you can say about ANYONE. But film is such a personal face-to-face referrals-based business... one should really be careful what they say about anyone or anyone's production (unless you are a film reviewer or a journalist- then it is your job to do that- if done in a professional, non-slanderous fashion). You are messing with, potentially, someone's livelihood... their entire future- with blacklists & black marks- all of this is at risk on the tip of the tongue of one careless producer/director. But it isn't really a proper representation of that person... it was just something said in anger.

But these humble types... the ones you can trust... they do not pack ship & sail away... or betray those who have worked so hard with them. They can be trusted to help and not hinder the production because they are aware that so much is at stake. When you put your professional reputation on the line- my advice is... "know who it is you are working with... because they may be the last people you work with."

So, for the future... my next adventure appears to be getting the 'right sorts' together to really have an impact on the local film industry! So, stay tuned. There's more to come!

Happy Holidays to all my readers & Thank you!

Jon

Building the Florida Film Industry

2009-01-21T19:09:00.000-05:00

Very simply we need to start building more infrastructure in Florida & continue to pay it forward to others who desire to help build the industry here as well... regardless of the fact that we can make more money elsewhere. A lot of people complain that productions here dont pay but this isnt a Florida problem it is an independent filmmaking problem due to high risk & lack of liquidity. It is a misunderstanding of where the money comes from & where it goes. Understandably, a union picture will pay more reliably & if you are union you will go where the money is because it is more of a career... but of course this leaves Florida in the same position. Also, indies can be skiddish about working with unions for the same lack of funding strength in Florida. But, of course, since the money isnt here as much as other places people leave... union or not. The unions just offer a different career path for filmmakers to continue growing no matter where you call home.

Injecting temporary funds (like incentives almost always do) represents a temporary injection in the business here. Once the incentives change, stop, or become politicized, the industry will once again revert to a state of inactivity. This is not my objective, nor should it be any of ours who are in Florida & who care about Florida as a state in which we can continue to do business. There is nothing 'bad' about going where the money is- we have to struggle to build our careers- but inevitably it means we're still left with the situation we have here in Florida... not enough reason to consistently stay in Florida.

My solution for Florida includes something for filmmakers & the state to participate in. For film producers... there needs to be a project or a studio (multiple ones really) that builds up Florida as a place to film by actually "making money"... getting good publicity (making Florida look good, not just on screen) and putting the profits back into the infrastructure here. It will need to be well produced & well promoted for this reason... and leaving the project to others outside of Florida afterward should not be done (like many other projects such as the Punisher was done). We should never cut & run if we hope to build something lasting... something that eventually pays to keep here because it pays for us to stay here.

As it comes to the Film Office... I think building a static project in Florida (such as a Studio funded primarily but temporarily by the state, which helps train independent filmmakers) would definitely bring productions to the local economy for an indefinite period of time, even after it changes hands to private industry. A Studio not only represents the greatest potential to maintain profits for the long run, but it represents local growth specifically.

New Mexico is an example of this. New Mexico, I believe, has not just created incentives, but has also built a studio... so we have a specific case study to build from.

Of course, the competition for which metro area in Florida should be the recipient of such a studio could be INCREDIBLY fierce... it would have to be fairly planned out & would have to represent a long term commitment on the part of a substantial statewide grassroots effort. Possibly multiple studios could spring forth from this great commitment.

I think three locations have maximum potential... Orlando, Tampa Bay, & Miami are growing most consistently... and building studios in that order would be the best I think. I have to say though, Lakeland might help cover both Orlando & Tampa Bay areas if a multi-studio long term commitment cannot be created. Also, if this combination of forces creates a chain reaction of dual efforts... it will help build & spread out more business throughout Central Florida.

Also, the film commissioners need to modify & combine their efforts. They should team up & help put more Florida product out at film markets as opposed to just the fun fests out there... because Markets are really where the money is at. Attending just festivals out of state doesn't necessarily help bring money to Florida... but attending the AFM or Toronto's Market or Cannes' Market or Hong Kong's Market might. We as citizens are just paying them to be over-glorified travel agents it appears. It has nothing to do with the Film Industry. Just redirect money into Travel & Tourism instead of paying them to attend fun festivals to learn about event production... which also has nothing to do with the industry!

I think the citizens need to do more than the state though. The economy sucks & I want our state to stay "in the black"! Keep building & growing you Florida filmmakers! Every bit of business growth helps the entire economy!

Jon

The end of the Tampa Film Review & the beginning of something new in Tampa Bay

2009-01-21T18:20:00.000-05:00

Having attended the last Tampa Film Review & working with Dan Brienza & the Guzzo's to try & move the Tampa Film Review to another location has left me empty. I saw the press & their concerns & I saw the need for a film screening venue go unheeded by many people. I have met with quite a few people regarding getting a venue & filling the gap left by the TFR to have a screening in the Tampa area. I have to admit I was discouraged.

Then, when I attended the Pinellas Filmmaker's Society on January 13th, Pete Bradshaw had the same concern for our area but it was a very different meeting this time. In one meeting we made a new name for the film society, found a new venue, built a new film-related social networking site and created a new change of course for the entire group. Now they are called the Tampa Bay Film Society and they are meeting at Coconut's Comedy Club in Clearwater on Friday February the 13th at 8pm to start new screenings. A new determination to do more screenings & invite people to network on the internet has been a refreshing new course! The site is called FILM & I hope the group grows & remains an influential part of the film industry in the Tampa Bay area for years to come.

There is also some good growth being experienced by the former St. Pete Creative Network... now the Tampa Bay Creative Network. In fact there are rumors that Film Forum group on the page might even start their own screenings as well.

As it comes to the group in Tampa... things are not over however. There were plenty of fears that no one would be able to fill the shoes that Pete & Paul Guzzo were leaving open for someone to walk in but Dan Brienza has been working tirelessly & faithfully to effect the film industry in Tampa for some time now. Now he has decided to take up the challenge to do even more...

Amazingly, even with his Weekend Film Crew Productions, his Tampa Weekend Film School classes, his Tampa Bay Film Industry & Actors Network & his Film Crew Cafe website... he is not overburdened! The once defunct Tampa Film Network has now ok'ed a transition for Dan to take over this network & merge it with the Tampa Bay Film Industry & Actors Network & the Film Crew Cafe... calling it the Tampa Film Network. And finally the Guzzo's Tampa Film Review will also be taken over by Dan, who will attempt to keep it screening with the same name!

Dan will continue to have classes under the Tampa Weekend Film School & he will run this network in Tampa and do screenings. All he needs now is a venue in Tampa to help sponsor his efforts! If anyone has any leads-- please email me! libertynumber5@gmail.com

So to sum it up- I am amazed at the Tampa Bay area filmmakers... we are doing more & spreading like a wildfire to build the industry here! I just hope that in March the Film Office in Tallahassee sees our solid resolve & does what it can (without going in the red) to assist our film community responsibly! I guess we'll see if there is more good news to come very soon!

Cinematography Class with Erik Curtis

2008-10-27T04:17:00.001-04:00

Our wonderfully talented friend, DP Erik Curtis, who was extremely busy during this last movie he was shooting (known as The Chaos Experiment with Val Kilmer) finally arrived back in Tampa for the much anticipated Cinematography class for the Tampa Weekend Film School. The event was sponsered by Kodak & we were going to be 'having school' in ValComm/Chameleon Filmworks Studios in Clearwater and we were going to be using Panavision with (of course) Kodak high grade film. There were about 20-30 students and about 15 crew including Erik Curtis & Pete Guzzo (acting as Director) & while we were training loading film, dolly gripping & using the camera we were going to be shooting a PSA for a benefit to raise money by bicycling for a cause. There was another Director working with us as well (who I really liked) but I didn't really get his name. We shot HD alongside and got to compare between the two on the $30k monitors. Of course, the processing of the film will have to take place in the next week or two & Erik has informed us that we will be going on a trip to the Lab... Continental Labs in Orlando! It should be very informational & a lot of fun! I will learn a great deal I'm sure! I think that as film goes out of style... it will become cheaper, but also the skill set will be harder to come by... this experience will become a valuable one!

I have to say, that Erik was one of the nicest, coolest & most accessible DP's I've met & I was VERY honored to work with him, even a little bit. I LOVED pulling focus for the last second of film in the camera! Go out with a bang, baby!! This has been the favorite of my film school experiences so far!

Dinner with Joe Davison

2008-10-27T04:09:00.001-04:00

In anticipation of Director of Photography Erik Curtis (who had just finished production in Michigan on The Chaos Experiment with Val Kilmer), we had planned a dinner to talk about our upcoming Tampa Weekend Film School Cinematography class! What ended up happening instead was an unexpected rare treat!

Instead of Erik Curtis, we got to eat dinner with horror movie writer/actor/producer/director Joe Davison from the movie 100 Tears. Joe turns out to be an awesome guy who schooled us on a lot of misconceptions in the film industry & his experiences. We really had a great time & I think we have formed a long-time bond with Joe... so much so that near the end of our dinner, we brain stormed about some story ideas that we would like to do before Halloween & now we have planned a shoot date & set locations & everything for a three part YouTube video release starring Joe! Sounds like indy heaven! We did miss Erik but we know that he was very busy... After a tough shoot its good to take a break from all the stress & I do hope Erik got to do that!

The State of the Film & Entertainment Industry Summit

2008-10-27T02:50:00.000-04:00

On October 9th, the "State of the Film & Entertainment Industry Summit" took place in St. Petersburg, FL. to address the sad situation of the film & entertainment industries in Florida. Most states in our country have gone to some lengths to engage in a healthy competition to court the film industry to continue shooting & doing projects in their states (of course except for a few, one, namely being Florida). The lame incentives Florida offers are kind of like an insult to the industry almost to the point that they are 'asking' productions to leave the state. I really don't understand the logic in it whatsoever but the politicians that headed the 'summit' (as they called it) didn't really offer any solutions except to help them do their jobs & to keep doing more work for them.

I have to say, if I am going to have to do something & if what I do is successful, why do I need these people to speak for us filmmakers in Florida? They are proving to us all that they are not doing their jobs by putting on the farcical show they staged. It ended up being a forum for us to all complain about the fact that the capitol in Tallahassee is doing 'nothing' to help us poor, innocent filmmakers & videographers... blah, blah. Once again a waste of our efforts on politicians to save us.

I don't care for their efforts & I don't expect anyone to do anything to help me, I simply don't want anyone to get in my way to create as an artist. If at least, the state & local governments were offering a policy to help with permits, security & insurance it would make creating easier. I'm not asking for money for myself, I'm asking for these bureaucracies to fast-track some of the processes we have to wade through because we are doing things up-front & in cooperation with these governments. Plus I think it contributes to our tradition in Florida to have smaller government. Taxes could be waived as well possibly... who knows? There are actually so many ways that the state could help (without having to put up any funds whatsoever) that it is almost shocking to see so little action on their part. Which, again, makes it look like they are actually asking for production companies to leave Florida!

Once again, government saves mankind! Well... with some reservations. So, the plan is for us to go to Tally & once again, not be heard. :-\

Our Non-Profit P.S.A.'s

2008-10-27T02:39:00.000-04:00

Training at the Tampa Weekend Film School (in Association with the Weekend Film Crew created by Daniel Brienza) has been steadily increasing with our 'Non-Profit PSA Project' we have embarked upon. The project entails finding organizations that might be able to use the help that a Public Service Announcement might give them, in order for our group to practice making small projects (like commercials) and then to continue on to making shorts or films as time goes on & we gather more knowledge & experience.

The first we did about three months ago was for a non-profit organization called "Connected by 25" which helps foster kids who graduate out of the foster care system. Many times, these young adults find themselves cut off from any meaningful help or any support system they may be used to having when they leave their foster home. This organization seeks to help re-establish the support system these kids need so desperately. Dan Brienza Directed, DP'ed & is editing it currently. I Produced. Chris Gayle AD'ed, Cheryl Williams was the Casting Director & we had a few really great actors!

The second one we have been working on is going to be completely created with V.O.'s, Final Cut & After Effects, etc. and the third we are going to be doing is still yet to be determined. So far it has been successful & a lot of fun... we just have to do the editing... :)

Editing Class with Rebecca Croft

2008-10-27T02:33:00.000-04:00

About two months ago (I neglected to post it then), we at the Tampa Weekend Film School had a great time putting on the last editing workshop with Rebecca Croft on Final Cut Pro. Rebecca has been editing in Final Cut for the last 8 years but before this event, she had never trained anyone to edit (except for me) and she found it difficult to imagine teaching others at first. But, she did an awesome job and everyone seemed pleased with all the very detailed bits of knowledge she imparted to the 10-12 or so students that attended.

I really hope we continue to do events like this in the future. It was very practical & informative for everyone involved! Thank you Rebecca! :)

The 48hr Film Project

2008-08-22T11:26:00.000-04:00

I have to say- I had a great time working on this years 48 hr Film Project. Rebecca was the Editor & I ended up helping as an Assistant Editor & Music Supervisor since we came on board late in the project. When the movie we made (that Bobby Marinelli Directed & Matt Wightman DP'ed) called "The Champ" gets posted on YouTube I will update this post & let you all know...

OK HERE IT IS--

Heres a link to YouTube just in case the embed doesn't work.

Everyone did a great job & I was proud to work with our team members even though I never knew most of them before this. I think more than half were from HSN though.

My take on the films? Ours was pretty good besides a few last minute editing mistakes. When you're given minutes to do everything that you would normally have weeks or months to do... things are going to happen- some things slip by. They were fixed for uploading to YouTube so you wont see those mistakes here. Well, you might see some mistakes. I'm not sure.

As for the other films, I really loved the film "A Minute Too Late" it was like watching a currently produced police/crime network tv show and the winning movie "Crime's a Cookin'" was a really good b&w silent film. It was very funny! I wonder how these guys did all that while being allotted the same amount of time we had!

We have been working with a few of our team members since then & also have noticed... we NEED to update our editing suite badly! A lot of the new cameras (it appears) can't be edited by our older FCP 5 system. We need the Studio 2 to be able to make our workflow more seamless.

If you are interested in learning more about the 48 hr Film Project heres some links.

48hr Film Project
48hr TV

We were participants in the 2008 Tampa/St. Petersburg competition. Our genre was Sports Movie, the character was a food connoisseur named "Bob Percival", the line was "How could you do this to me?", and the prop was a hair dryer.

My hope is that more opportunities open up for us because of this involvement as I'm sure they will.

:)

The new "RED" camera gets shown off at the Pinellas Filmmakers Society!!

2008-05-24T11:08:00.000-04:00

First of all, I have to say I am so grateful to Curtis Graham and the other gentleman (a local Digital Imaging Technologist) who brought their cameras to display to the Society! Let me explain...

If you shoot in HD you know the resolution... Well, the RED camera is so much more of a revolution in filmmaking than I could hardly imagine! Curtis Graham (a local commercial & feature filmmaker) brought his entire RED rig to explain it's features for all in the audience to see. He used the in-house projectionist as a subject to get some recording done at a resolution of 4096x2304 as opposed to the normally used 1080 in the industry now!! By the way, the projectionist should consider acting-- he has a great face for film! So, he then transferred his RAGE 320G hard drive from his camera to a Mac G5 with a wide-screen monitor which was wheeled up into the front area. He showed us in post the amazing things you could do right away with your footage (with the free red editing software and with Final Cut) that couldnt be done if you were using film or most digital rigs! I was blown away at the picture quality, size, and incredible features that the red camera offered at a staggering $17,500! I am focusing now, on trying to get this technology into the next major project I want to do in this area.

I couldn't hope to explain all of its revolutionary features to you here! It is the best film rig combined with the very best digital rig imaginable!

As Wikipedia says "According to Red's official website, director Steven Soderbergh is shooting the first of his two upcoming features Guerrilla and The Argentine" using the RED. Also, "Soderbergh is very enthusiastic about the camera, saying that 'This is the camera I've been waiting for my whole career...'!"

Please... if you wanna know what I'm talking about go to their page and these other web pages.
www.red.com | Home Site
RedUser.net | Red Camera Forums
RedRelay | 4k Gallery Host Site
Wiki Red Camera Company
WonderHowTo on the RED camera

If this wasn't enough... as you may be able to notice... next year the Red company is planning on a new handheld 3k camera called "Scarlett"! It is also better than HD!! And in the palm of your hand! So you can understand my gratefulness towards the PFS! They have my full attention with this new technology!

....

Some essential news about the group. The Pinellas Filmmakers Society is run by Pete Bradshaw & Curtis Graham. There is no dues or other fees & the meeting is open to the public. Meetings take place on the 4th Friday of every month (it used to be the 3rd) from 7pm to 9pm (come an hour early for networking & rubbing elbows with local filmmakers). If you want to get involved in the local filmmaking scene, this is the best way to get moving! So, bring a stack of business cards & get over there next month!!

Image on upper right from red.com.

Antisocial Butterfly Update

2008-05-24T10:50:00.000-04:00

My wife (Rebecca) & I have been sporadically putting together her short mini-DV film "Antisocial Butterfly" now for the past 6 months or so. Every so often we'll have time on the weekends to do a half day of shooting for certain scenes & she'll need to get a new haircut & keep her "continuity" up for the look of the film. We have been doing only the scenes where she is alone so far until we can organize for more complex scenes. So we still have a long way to go as it comes to the entire film being ready for the final edit.

...Although... As you can see we had just enough footage to make a small teaser!!

Enjoy!

(If the embedded video doesnt work heres the link)

...Whaddya think?

Make sure to tell Rebecca how awesome she is... It always helps when people encourage!!
You can talk to her via her YouTube page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ladyrebeccacroft

"Tampa Weekend Film School" Update

2008-05-16T17:44:00.000-04:00

Daniel Brienza really is awesome. This is because, I really like the new business model they are pursuing for the Weekend Film School. To elaborate, I guess its not so much a business model as a strategy to make this network learning experience most effective to Tampa Bay filmmakers.

First of all, their mission is for the group to start making films together. Second, the way they want to do this is to break the entire network up into four more manageable teams (based on the basic teams in the filmmaking process).

The teams are as follows:
1. Scriptwriting
2. Acting
3. Pre-Production/Production
4. Post-Production

Then, after these phases of training within each team is done, the filming process might start taking place & hopefully, good films will ensue from this process. Sounds good to me!

At the last Tampa Bay Industry & Actors Network we signed up for our team so, hopefully there will be some emails going out soon to keep us up to date on upcoming team meetings.

(I hope it wont get in the way of "Electric Picasso")
:O

"Electric Picasso" Update

2008-05-16T16:38:00.000-04:00

Hello folks!

I am & have been an Assistant Producer for "The Electric Picasso" production by CandiMark Productions now, for the past month and a half or so. We are going to be mentored during production by four professionals from the Pinellas Filmmakers Society meeting in St. Petersburg. They will, also, be generously donating use of much of the equipment (especially for production phase). As this will make our movie of much higher quality I am so very grateful for this gift by the PFS.

This has been a really exciting project! I am loving everyone on the team & we are really forming a great production team in my view (which can do other projects in the future). I have been helping the Producers a lot, hopefully, and now we are into the location scouting and filling all crew positions phase.

I can't really talk about the story "The Electric Picasso" simply because I am not very good at the "pitch" just yet, but I can say some technical details. This is probably going to be a 12-15 min. comedy movie on color Panasonic DVC Pro. We have most of our primary crew positions filled. We, of course, still need to do the ultra-important casting for most of the parts.

Our Producer, Mark Keim, is so awesome. Our Director, Lisa Inserra, is also so awesome it makes you want to scream. The DP, Connie Pearson, I am really taking a liking to and for this reason I have personal hopes to work with her in the future. There are also others I wont mention just yet, but let me tell you... so far we are a great team.

We have these positions open still: 1st AD, 2nd AD, possibly a PM, PC, PA's, Gaffer, Key Grip, Best Boy- Electric, possibly a Location Manager, and a Marketing/Ad Guru or Publicist (depending).

So, for now I am really psyched! I have been generating some reports & having meetings (which I love), and I have really been learning a lot.

If you have any questions... please ask!

The "Electric Picasso" Project

2008-04-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

The Pinellas Filmmakers Society has been assisting & collaborating in a new production (as a training & experience building exercise) and they have been working once a month to building local industry networking partnerships (in their meeting on the fourth Friday evening of every month). My assessment of the group has been very favorable and continues to be so! I am so very excited about this new production as well! They may accept me as a possible candidate (probably in some production capacity) and soon I may be contacting various individuals for some sort of filmmaking or financial support for the film. We have made progress from this last production meeting and I feel we are getting ever closer to making this a film for which I will be proud to be a part.

The film is called "Electric Picasso" and so far we have made some great progress! It will most likely be a 20-25 min. digital short utilizing local talent & crew. There are a few International Academy of Art & Design students and a DP originally from NYC (so far a production staff & crew of 11-12 people). I read the script recently and was surprisingly pleased with it. I'm usually somewhat disappointed with a lot of stories these days, but this one has some really great moments. It is also a very appropriate script as a short film. It gets to the point quickly. It has a good ending. It has some great opportunities for talent to shine & for us to have some technically & artistically creative moments so that makes me happy.

I hope I do a great job & I remain grateful to Mark Keim- the Producer & Lisa Inserra- the Director for taking me on so graciously! I will probably be referring any readers to a soon-to-be created web site for the production from this blog.

So... more to come ASAP!

The first Tampa Bay area film school experience ever??!

2008-04-07T16:47:00.000-04:00

While there actually had been a studio in St. Petersburg as far back as 1933 (called Sun Haven Studios) who made three films (Chloe- Love is Calling You, Playthings of Desire, & The Hired Wife), there has to my knowledge never been a film school in the Tampa Bay area... even after USF students & faculty have attempted to start one for decades now. The first (what appears to be) film school experience seems to be coming out of Tampa called the "Tampa Weekend Film School", run by popular locals, Daniel Brienza & the Guzzo Bros. of the Tampa Film Review, Tampa Digital Studios & 1 Day Films. The program, which is not run like a college or a state run school is (so far, fashioned in a very economically sound way) to be run in a weekend session, like a hands-on film school with very affordable prices! Sessions are, however, only taking place every six months or so.

I have yet to attend because I would like to go with a group (you get a discount if you come with a team of 5-10 people). So, if anyone is interested in going with me as a team member in my group we will go together and you should be able to get in for as little as $30 to $50 per person/session!

They have yet to announce the new dates for their next session. Although they seem to be having specialty classes (such as a screen writers class they just had the first week in april) now as well, I hope this doesn't mean they are changing their format to continue doing only specialty classes (& no longer having the team experience). I have to say though, regardless, I am (so so) excited that there is now a film school experience of some sort in the Tampa Bay area and I would be honored to attend with any of my friends or co-workers!

Yay!
:)

Favorite Movies & the Great Influences

2008-03-12T14:53:00.000-04:00

My Top 10 are numbered (1-10):

Blade Runner (1)
Renaissance (2)
Citizen Kane (3)
The Maltese Falcon (4)
Lord of the Rings (5)
The Seven Samurai (6)
Akira (7)
Casablanca (8)
Alien (9)
Buffalo 66 (10)

I realize that some people might say "what is Renaissance?" or "Buffalo 66?" or "Akira?" or "The Seven Samurai" but this just means you might need to brush up on your film watching in the evening and thats fun for everyone! Yes, some may say, "Hey! Renaissance is an experimental film!" or "How can an animation stack up to live action seeing as live action obviously takes talent to express real emotions on-screen!" Well, obviously, you might not realize what kind of talent it takes to create animation and to be a motion capture artist... it takes this kind--> ALOT! Its just a different sort of passion & emotion that goes into it! It isn't emotion 'in-the-moment' but emotion 'in-the-details'! Ultimately the talent shows on screen in the storytelling! It isn't always something you can understand, but if you end up with a good feeling after you've seen it and it's made an impression on you for years, well, you should think about the fact that many movies can't achieve that kind of influence.

This is why I love "Akira" and many animations... "Akira" happens to capture the viewer, however, in a way most animations don't do for me though. It makes you grip your seat & pull the filling out of it! It is a very emotional film... and you feel it years later!

"Renaissance" I find to be brilliant in the way it is experimental and in the resulting effect on screen! Also, it reminds me of "Blade Runner" which I am very passionate about!

I love the associations in "Blade Runner" and that it achieves a cohesion between eastern & western cultures in the art direction & writing that is so rich that I am still amazed at it! It doesn't stop there though, the characters & story have a depth unparalleled in most films. There is so much there... people still discuss it in forums & the like (just like I am here). It was based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick who wrote a few very influential sci-fi stories back in the day. Of course I am a major sci-fi lover but rarely do I feel that what I am seeing in sci-fi films is believable. I can almost see the exposed set & boom mics peeking out between takes in my imagination. "Blade Runner," in contrast, actually achieves believability. I also am a lover of film noir, so "Blade Runner" achieves a synthesis of everything I love in film, period.

"The Maltese Falcon," "Citizen Kane," and "Casablanca" all express my love of older b&w cinema. "The Maltese..." for my admiration of crime-story writing translated to the screen as it was done in noir films. "Citizen..." for the technical artistry, ingenuity & talent used to make the film. "Casablanca" for the acting & cinematography utilized to achieve putting such a love story on the silver screen. The writing is pure, classic, love story gold. I would say that about other films like "An Affair to Remember" or something like that, but I am more of a film noir/action buff so this translates good romance into something I can understand as a man. No, it isn't an "everyone-lives-happily-ever-after" type of movie, nor does it have to be. After all, that isn't believable. And it doesn't have to be "guy-gets-girl" to be a love story either. All the very gay films out there have proved that to us, (haven't they?) while in an altogether disturbing way... :/

"Lord of the Rings" is there for obvious reasons (and yes, I mean ALL of the three movies together as one product). "LotR" is simply the very best fantasy films ever made and they can be judged together because they were all filmed at the same time and they all, then, very easily achieved the same look & feel to them. Incredible FX and acting. It is hard to say that films do books justice, but I would say that this one does! And I am a major Tolkien fan!

I suppose "Alien" is on this list for some similar reasons that I love "Blade Runner" but obviously not all. It isnt film noir nor is it as culturally significant. The art direction is pretty good though, although somewhat standard for that era in filmmaking. But its the creature design, acting & cinematography that make this a sci-fi thriller most worthy of distinction in my book. I almost listed "Aliens" as well but it isnt as raw in it's artistry & acting. "Aliens," however, is tons of fun to watch & is more descriptive in it's art direction & storytelling.

If you don't know who Akira Kurosawa was, you'd better get cracking! It was a close vote for me between "Yojimbo" and "The Seven Samurai" to list here. They are both incredible films as well as monumentally influential to filmmakers worldwide just as Hitchcock is influential. But there is no Hitchcock film (this is really hard for me to say) that achieves the enormous artistry on screen as a Kurosawa film (& I LOVE Hitchcock!). Hitchcock is a technical genius and a serious student of the human psyche (and it shows in his films) but I consider his work... awkward as it comes to the point of the storytelling. I suppose if I was a major suspense fan, he'd be on the top of my list... so that is saying something I suppose. Kurosawa, in contrast, uses a very organic set of tools to his disposal... to tell a powerfully impactful story & he achieves it almost every time. His very human stories are also great stories. I think the "Samurai..." affected me the most because of all the factors involved to tell such a big story. Each character (each of the seven samurai in the story) affect the viewer in very different ways and each character is also, like the main character. This is rarely if ever achieved in a film. Look at "Oceans 11," or "12," or "13" to compare (which all attempt to achieve this)... Ha ha! There is no comparison!

"Buffalo 66" is another one of those experimental films like "Renaissance" that achieves what it sets out to do. It makes a heart-rending story with skill & artistry. It was a great influencer in the independent spirit of filmmaking in the 90's. Different than the independent, while bloody homage movies of Tarantino, "Buffalo 66" is more of a sincere, heartfelt communication about a broken family through filmmaking. Less violent and brutal but still as poignant & awake to relevant issues. It takes a sophisticated interest in filmmaking & an open-mindedness to see "Buffalo" as a great film however.

Here's the entire list (A-Z) of Influences with Favorites:
12 Monkeys, 1984, Airplane, Akira (7), Alien (9), Aliens, Alphaville, Apocalypse Now, Batman Begins, Be Kind Rewind, The Big Lebowski, The Big Sleep, Blade Runner (1), Blazing Saddles, The Blues Brothers, Braveheart, Brazil, The Breakfast Club, Brick, Buffalo 66 (10), Caddyshack, Casablanca (8), Casino Royale, Citizen Kane (3), more...Clash of the Titans, Coffee & Cigarettes, Corpse Bride, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Darjeeling Limited, Dark City, The Dark Crystal, Detour (1946), Donnie Darko, Dr. Strangelove, Dumb & Dumber, Edward Scissorhands, The Elephantman, Equilibrium, Fahrenheit 451, Faust, The Fifth Element, The Fountain, Four Eyed Monsters, Gaslight, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Interview with a Vampire, The Island, Ivanhoe, James and the Giant Peach, Kill Bill, Krull, The Labyrinth, Ladyhawk, Laura, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (All of Wes Anderson's work), Loaded Weapon 1, Logan's Run, Lord of the Rings (5), The Lost Boys, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera, Lost in Translation, The Machinist, The Maltese Falcon (4), The Man Who Wasn't There, Marie Antoinette (All of S. Coppola's work), Mars Attacks!, The Matrix, Mission Impossible 1-3, Moulin Rogue, Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, North by Northwest, Nosferatu, Notorious, The Number 23, Pi, Planet of the Apes, Pulp Fiction, Renaissance (2), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Baz Lehrmann's "Romeo & Juliet", The Royal Tennenbaums, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Seven Samurai (6), Signs, Sixth Sense, Soilent Green, Spaceballs, Star Wars, Stranger Than Fiction, Superbad, The Third Man, Tommy Boy, Top Secret, The Truman Show, Unbreakable, Underworld 1&2, Vanilla Sky, Vertigo, We Are The Strange, Wings of Desire, Yojimbo (really- all of Akira Kurosawa's work), all James Bond movies, Jim Carrey comedies, John Candy comedies, Danny Kaye comedies, Monty Python Movies, Leslie Nielsen comedies, Pink Panther comedies, ANYTHING with Humphrey Bogart, most of M. Night's Films... i like some anime too... & i guess i like some of the cult classic old 70's ninja/kung fu films with sonny chiba & bruce lee (stuff that inspired anime & quentin tarantino)... its fun to watch!

Well this must be why I'm wanting to go to film school! I love studying the process & the translation of good storytelling to the screen... It makes me happy! I hope reading this has helped you make some selections at your local video store, brought peace into the home & to all the world... but I doubt it. 'Just trying to be realistic here...

Peace-out folks!
Jon

Invitation to Network & Recent Happenings

2008-02-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

So, some local film stuff going on right now-
(I plan on attending a lot of these events & i would love for anyone who is an amateur or aspiring filmmaker to come with me if you contact me beforehand & of course, if you live in the Tampa Bay area).

1. The Tampa Film Review (TFR) meets (in the International Bazaar at Ybor City, Tampa) at 7 pm on the 2nd Friday of every month (they might soon change their location). They've been getting a lot more involved & active lately with plugging into local film events & helping local filmmakers get VIP treatment at events. Theres also some workshop & training opportunities but it is mostly a place to show your work to local fellow filmmakers for free.

2. Pinellas Filmmakers Society meets on the 4th Friday of every month at 6pm at the Indie Studios (1776 11th Ave N., St. Pete). They are a more personable group who actually meet in a professional studio. They are hardcore & they like to train & give advice. If you bring something to show they will show it but expect an honest assessment of your work as they are keen on giving advice. Great place to network in my opinion & talk about yourself & your work.

3. St. Pete Creative Network meets once a month as well but the date & location is not the same every month. They are a group of Pinellas artists who want to network, to have fun, & to come up with ideas to help the community through their art. It is under-represented in the filmmaking department... a lot of graphic designers & ad people from what ive seen.

Recent Goings-on...
I have been working with a few people to discuss moving to NYC to do film up there & to expand into web design also (Flash). It isn't probably within this year but should be the beginning of next year. I just have to get our condo fixed up, on the market, sold, debts paid off, need to finish making Rebecca's "coming of age" short entitled "Antisocial Butterfly" & to get my short HD b&w film noir up & running ("The Dark Cinema") so I have some of my own personal work to shop around up there. I have been looking for opportunities to do this cheaper & with more indy artists who are more dedicated hardcore filmmakers at heart.

Its been hard as well as expensive- Ive had to work all kinds of jobs on the side to make artistic projects & to keep our studio open for business but with the right people I know we can do this thing- I have a few collaborative projects I have been shopping around- one called "Holy War" & the other an untitled zombie vs vampire short. Ive actually got a lot of different projects going on but the hardest part has been staying afloat financially.

Well either way local filmmakers can help each other out in so many ways & networking is one of the greatest, so bring along a stack of business cards & show up with me to one of these events!

Thanx all!
Jon

Why I love NYC (& why you should too)!

2008-01-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

I am a great fan of New York City if you might have noticed. I've even been a fan of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for some time (and I had typed like 2 paragraphs here before about politics & the like... yea. I omitted it!) So you can thank me later! So anyway, theres so much to like about NYC that its hard to list it at all... its like im stunned! Theres shopping, theres shows, theres every kind of event & fun thing to do you can imagine! I'm from Florida saying this... the beach can be overrated at times. Theres not much of a filmmaking industry, there's not many cool cafes or book stores. There's not that many intellectuals down here it seems. There's this attitude of animosity from a lot of people, you know, it's like a "my way or the highway" kind of thing. I think its cuz people don't like debating ideas typically down here. New Yorkers, in contrast, are more used to competition in every way. You are forced to be stronger as a result.

Speaking practically, while New York has a great weakness as a place to move to (financial reasons)- that weakness also serves as it's greatest strength as a filmmaker & as someone who is planning on having very marketable skills when (& if) I move there. I plan on not only having mad skills (filmmaking experience & flash design skills) but assets to bring to the table as well.

This will take some time though- but, if I am blessed with a few good friends here in Florida who believe in me- I am counting on an inspiring, blessed moment to occur... the moment in which I can create a short film with the help of my friends in order to open up my filmmaking career in NYC. What this provides for me is an invaluable asset for the rest of my life as it can really showcase my talent & it will allow me to finally pursue the kind of career & work I am actually passionate about. I've never cared much about being rich & famous like so many Americans these days, but I have felt out of place in each & every job I have ever had which now has reached up to 34 (!) jobs in my life! Why has this happened to me? No reason except I have not ever been given a chance to do what I have wanted. I'm like Ethan Hawke's character in Reality Bites! It's kinda funny.

I am confident that if I am in New York, I will be given better job opportunities, more exposure for my artistic talents & better use of my experience. The CUNY state university system (hopefully Brooklyn) can give me a good opportunity to go to a low cost film program, and if I am able to room with 2-4 more film enthusiasts, our housing costs should remain manageable.

In the rent department- I am really liking craigslist for the most up to date system (because in NYC- if you don't acquire your apartment the next day- you lose!), but there are other sites I am open to as well (A reminder... as it comes to craigslist just be leary of scams!). I am also planning on (when ready), asking our already present NYC friend-base to help us with 'what is' the right kind of place to look for and kind of being a present witness (possibly) of how good or bad this place is before we get there. From what I can tell, these seem like the numbers to watch for from my (mostly) uninformed position... $800 (or less) for an efficiency, $1600 (or less) for a two bedroom, and $2000 for a three bedroom. As you may be able to tell- im staying around the $400 or less per person area. This looks to me VERY reasonable if you are a sport and can live in a small closet (for awhile at least). It is much better for each of us the more people & bedrooms weve got here but there's got to be a limit on what is manageable. We are adults here- we should be able to establish a consensus on agreed-upon basic rules for the apartment as alot of these places have shared kitchens, living spaces & bathrooms (if not bathROOM='singular'). This means many things will have to be shared & so we need ways... of staying out of each other's way (if that makes any sense). Marriage teaches you that togetherness is also responsibility- theres a responsibility to nurture harmony & compassion. Well, I hope its just a very mutually beneficial experience and also a lot of fun!

If my friends haven't as of yet discovered some of the NYC film incentives I would challenge you to do so- some of them are VERY attractive- I don't expect to just be able to film whatever projects we want right away- but to get in contact with people who can help us, to do great things in our own time & also, to use our film/web design/animation/industry jobs to (at the same time) promote and create our own work and therefore improve our reputation.

Also have you been to the STORES in NYC- I have never been more charmed in my LIFE!!! It's just... to find a grocery store- sheesh! Actually I did find a Costco with an internet search. Its just... now a new set of problems! How do you take your bulk foods with you on the bus??

If you haven't seen them- here's some pics of our trip to the Big Apple on flickr.

Jon the filmmaker.

Made in NYC: Some NYC Resources

2008-01-14T14:53:00.001-05:00

First let me start out with a link to MovieMaker's article about the ten best cities to make movies in, NYC being the #1 city for the past three years, beating out Austin and all the other film havens in the U.S., even for independent filmmaking.

Top 10 Cities for MovieMakers (2007)

This article explains some of it's reasons, of course, being state & city resources & incentives & a strong independent filmmaking spirit as opposed to L.A. which has not even showed up on MovieMaker's list for a while, no doubt to the domineering control that Hollywood has had over the local industry there.

here are a few more resources, of course animation job links are located in another post as I get them...

General NYC Info & Some Articles
NYC.gov
"Made in NY" Program
NYC Webcams
A Guide to Filming In NY
NYConvergence

Resources
Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting
IFP/New York
NewYork411
Motion Picture Enterprises
New York Production Guide
New York Film & Video Guide
New York City Film Resource
Grip & Electric

NYC Blogs
Cine Cultist
NY Brain Terrain
NY Locations
NY Indie Seen
Subway Cinema
NYC loves NYC
NY:MIEG
New Directors/New Films
NYC Daily Photo
Film Flap
A Daily Dose of Architecture
Location Files
Times Square
Brave New World: NYC!
New York Portraits
Elusive Lucidity
House Press
Between Productions
The Bowery Boys

Theatres
Lincoln Center
IFC Center
The Angelika
Pioneer Theatre

Film Schools
Digital Film Academy
School of Visual Arts
NYU
Brooklyn College
City College
Hunter College
New School
New York Film Academy
Manhattan Edit Workshop
Columbia University

more to come...
Jon

Changes on Posts

2007-11-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

I will be continuously researching cities to move to and animation companies so those posts will be frequently changing as time goes on. Ive already updated them probably over 3 times. Some of you may already have noticed!

19 Cities Rated

2007-11-14T02:14:00.000-05:00

An update has been necessitated (if that is a word) to represent new changes in the film community as well as in the strange economic situation presented us in this country. I have made some changes to accomodate. Here is my now new study on 19 Cities Rated for my search to find a location to start an indy film company with help, of course, from some very generous friends. Utilizing some resources on the internet such as MovieMaker's study on the 10 best cities to be a filmmaker has better helped me to rate some of these cities. I can always use help & advice from you, the reader in regards to this study as well. Please feel free to comment!

In this study I WAS utilizing 4 housing solutions to designate each city category. I had 'Individual Housing', 'Community Housing', 'Individual Rental' and 'Community Rental' designations based on the real estate climate & local cost of living. However, since the purpose of this study is to make it easier to pick a location to get into the film or animation industry, living situation seems to confuse the matter further. I'm sure finding the BEST living situation wherever you go (based on your own priorities), and of course, factoring in your own income & assets is going to happen regardless. It is isn't, well it needs to ...but that is something I can't do for anyone.

OK! Next I have 5 priorities in each of those cities/areas mentioned explained as thus (there has been a priority change here). 'Cheap' being costs of property and relative standard of living as distinguished in that area. 'Industry' being the presence of Film Industry (Infrastructure, Studios, Production Companies with Distribution, Jobs, Major Festivals, Film & Art Schools, Filmmaking Services, Filmmaking Societies, Filmmaking Incentives, and a good Film Office). Some have strong animation and not strong film (or visa versa) which can bring down the score. 'Film Community' is the presence of a supportive local film community (such as a tight knit group of supportive fellow Indy Filmmakers, Film Societies, Community Theaters, Micro-Cinemas, Non-Profits, & possibly some services or organizations to help build a stronger filmmaking community). An Indy filmmaking spirit really helps here. 'Livable' is the comfort index based on the measure of cosmopolitan, modern, convenient, diverse, and unique places and things to do in that community. A coffee house culture helps here. Also, the uncomfortability of extreme weather can contribute to 'unlivable' conditions. 'Family' is the sense of security a neighborhood has from a variety of benefits in that community. I get it from a combination of crime stats, local neighborhood morale, clean neighborhoods, sufficient government services and a neighborhood watch presence or something like it. I combined this rating with the formerly known 'Community' rating which was the sense that not only is crime low but the community is somewhat family friendly and has good schools to show for it. Walkability, parks and recreational areas or theme parks are a plus here as well. I have, of course, rated these based on what I know now from these communities.

Many of these changes occurred because I felt I was emphasizing too much on a 'nice', & 'safe' community rather than what was really important here which is the quality of the film/animation community. You may find the presence of some of the cities listed (or not listed) a surprise to you. Hey, let me know if you want to see something thats not on there! I have now done a ton of research however, and doing more of it might be just freaky at this point.

Regardless of my desire to move to NYC, due to new changes in film incentives this last year & the fact that filmmakers have REALLY responded in a very tangible way to make Michigan the next place to be in the film world, well... Michigan is now looking better on this list. Considering the new results I have made, some fresh advice would be to get as many other aspiring filmmakers involved as possible which can really be trusted to contribute to a tangible filmmaking collaboration in this burgeoning film community known as "The Mitten". The film incentives are incredibly helpful now for filmmakers & new film companies (such as tax refunds, permits, police escorts, and money to help your film company's growth). I still <3 NYC though!

The Cities (1-19): 1st being good, & 19th being, well... 19th!

Grand Rapids- 9 - 7 - 8 - 6 - 8 - 38
NYC- 1 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 4 - 34
Detroit- 10 - 9 - 9 - 3 - 2 - 33
Milwaukee- 7 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 33
Wilmington, NC- 5 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 31
Albuquerque, NM- 4 - 8 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 31
Upstate NY- 7 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 8 - 30
Minn./St.Paul- 5 - 5 - 6 - 6 - 8 - 30
Cleveland Area- 9 - 4 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 30
Madison, WI- 6 - 4 - 7 - 4 - 8 - 29
Columbus OH- 7 - 3 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 28
Shreveport, LA- 6 - 7 - 7 - 4 - 4 - 28
Austin, TX- 6 - 7 - 7 - 4 - 4 - 28
Chicago- 3 - 7 - 8 - 6 - 4 - 28
Portland- 2 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 5 - 28
St. Louis- 7 - 2 - 6 - 6 - 7 - 28
Seattle- 2 - 6 - 6 - 8 - 5 - 27
Denver- 4 - 4 - 5 - 7 - 6 - 26
Savannah- 6 - 4 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 25

About the decision to move & to collaborate, well, let's talk about it! Otherwise its not much of a collaboration, is it? None of this should be taken lightly because it is would be an expensive mistake right now to move to the wrong area. I can provide some source info links on cities if you are looking at a certain area.

Jon

Animation Co. search for animators

2007-11-07T10:17:00.001-05:00

Hello fellow filmmakers!

As an amateur independent filmmaker who is in the process of compiling useful data for myself as well as other independent filmmakers & animators, I have compiled a list of animation companies for primarily independents in the areas "outside of Hollywood's grasp" (mostly not on the west coast) because we independents need to help each other.

I am planning on networking a lot of people together to work on projects and independent productions corporately- first in Florida & then in NYC. I am also going to post a film industry resource list to help out my friends. So, now since I am now delving into NYC as the chosen location it will take a while to complete the list as it is so huge. We'll see who bites on the opportunities!

Animation Companies

New York

New York City
321 Film
8 Hats High
A&E Television Network
Animation Collective
Animators Unite
Atlantic Motion Pictures
Augenblick Studios
Blinking Eye Media
Blue Sky Studios
Bunko Studios
Buzzco Associates
Callaway Arts & Entertainment
Charged Productions
Cold Cereal Studios
Collider Media
Croog Studios
Curious Pictures
Curly Maple
Designomotion
DMA Animation
Dream Ray Studios
Factual Fiction
Fantasimation
FlickerLab
Freak Show Films
Frederator Studios
Fury Animation
Graphissimo
HBO
Hillman Arts
Homebaked Films
Hornet, Inc.
House of Bliss
IBC Digital
The ILL Clan
Inky Dinky Animation Studios
The Jim Henson Company
Kevina.TV
Kompost
Kyle Baker
Launch
Legend Animation
Life Story Productions
Little Airplane Productions
Loop Filmworks
LyLofilm Productions
Voom HD Networks

If anyone has any concerns, comments, complaints, etc. or you know of any animation studios not part of the Hollywood factory, especially if you are working for one... send your information as a comment here.

Thank you my fellow independents! I love you all!
Jon

My wife, the "Antisocial Butterfly"

2007-05-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

This idea was originally entitled "Shy" because it was about a shy girl. This main character and movie idea is based on my wife, Rebecca. This is all Rebecca's idea so, really, she should make her own blog for her company Ghost Productions and put this on it. But, until she does I will have it on here. So, back to the idea...

It is supposed to be based on a lot of the difficult social situations Rebecca had to deal with during her first years after leaving home and going to college at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. I suppose it gave her a measure of inspiration and passion to create this story about a girl who, like her, begins to feel she must start reaching out socially and to start becoming more socially adaptable (the character in the movie is more over-dramatised to really draw the audience into her character development). I suppose that in a dramatisation, it helps to scream 'story!' so people will hear you. Especially because with some stories, effecting people dramatically is really the point you are trying to make. It isn't just referred to as a 'drama' for no reason. We don't just want to say that this girl is shy- but if you can (with a tinge of the over-dramatic) affect the viewer on a personal level to feel, even slightly, the way the character might feel, you have accomplished much more!

So, in this 'coming of age' story it begins with her difficulty in reaching out and communicating with others around her. Certain feelings begin to creep up in her and then a male character (who will play opposite to her) begins showing up in the film who she will, from a distance, start to feel comfortable around. Other challenges start to show themselves as well, such as life goals. Much of this might seem a typical 'coming of age' as it comes to story but there are many things that will set it apart and make it unique as an experience to view. I know this because I know Rebecca despises typical, mediocre ideas. She has a good grasp on unique, original ideas & I don't think she'd waste five minutes on an idea if she thought it wasn't something new or different (except to be nice to the one with the idea).

The cinematography and certain story elements will probably make this a more compelling movie than a lot of the coming of age 'girly' or 'cutesy' movies you might have seen at your local video rental store. As it comes to certain artistic elements, I'm not sure what she wants as of yet, but she is a filmmaker who does not like to depend on poorly written dialogue to further a story. Instead she likes to move things along with subtle acting or unexpected story elements, such as the shift of an actors eyes or the placement of a prop to catch your attention and make you think about what is going on. This can only be done well by the best of directors & writers collaborating with professional actors and this is what makes me love a lot of Rebecca's ideas- they are more subtle... I really like to have twists and really 'impactful' story elements that blow you away, especially in story originality or style uniqueness- but Rebecca likes to kind of flow just out of view and just out of reach. She forces you to think and this is what makes her work so artistic. As she desires to work with very few on a set or on location it gives her artistic ideas and guidance more strength. I don't know, sometimes I wish I was more like her as a filmmaker. I guess you do what you can-.

As it comes to the production of her film, her script is 90% complete! So far it will probably be about a 15-25 minute short in color digital and I'M supposed to be her actor playing opposite of her! Yes, she has decided that she wants to play the girl in the film! I think its because she knows how it feels to be like this girl and she needs the lead part to be played with the correct motivation. It's not her acting I'd be worried about though- yep, it's mine! She used to be in acting school from childhood and she has done some pretty cool stuff in school. Anyway, I am psyched about her movie and hope she's done with writing & pre-production soon so we can get out there and see her great acting & directing! I'm sure you'll be excited about it too. Not to mention her editing is uber-primo (which has already been well proven)! Check out her editing of The Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Man" with the 1949 movie, "Gun Crazy" on Vimeo. It's sweet stuff! The timing in the editing is awesome (as long as you have sufficient bandwidth). Let me tell ya, I always felt "anti-social butterflies" ruled the art world. Now I know!

Jon

Film Noir... or 'Dark Cinema'?

2007-04-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

The Idea

This short movie idea has become known as "The Dark Cinema" for a variety of reasons. First, me and Rebecca can't seem to avoid the intense desire to make a 'film noir' worthy of the genre classification & all of the history that goes with Detective/Crime stories & movies of the day (from the late 30's to the late 50's). Of course the title, "The Dark Cinema" is a direct correlation to the name 'film noir,' or 'black film,' which I really translate 'dark' in my head anyway. There is also a very distinct connection between the title & the plot of the story as well, but I'm not gonna reveal any spoilers. I have to admit, the idea of making this film does sort of fulfill at least the feeling of 'making the quentissential' film noir. I only say this because after writing about 2/3rds of the script and being, really, very satisfied with it's quality.

As a short comparison here with other classic film-noir, there is a murder that takes place within the darkness of a movie theater while a movie is taking place, no less. Although, it should be noted that, while this plot point may make someone think this is a horror or suspense genre of film, it is not. But, keeping with the feeling of films of that day (which is I think one of the best things about film noir) a classy, determined lead character dominates the movement of the story through dark sets, lighting & situations. As "The Maltese Falcon" was a driving force in my love of film noir (between the dialogue Dashielle Hammett craftily establishes and Humphrey Bogart's intensely passionate acting), so are many of my themes influenced by these two factors- strong dialogue & strong characters.

In "The Maltese Falcon" we are swiftily brought along on this emotional roller coaster which engenders this certain clinging confidence to the character 'Sam Spade,' rather out of necessity. While we are left with feelings of romantic admiration for this time in the past we are also left with the cruel realities that society seems to present us. The Producers & Director do not shirk off this reality and as a result tell a gritty tale of conflict, inner turmoil and sexual tension, though, as it comes to the morale, we are given no option to interpret what the end of all of these problems will be in society. The hero, who is powerful and suave, just as James Bond may be, uses every means at his disposal to destroy the clever wiles of evil men (and even women) in the story (it is as though good is the ruthless victor- which can be a controversial opinion, yet it always seems to work in the most legendary and popular stories).

The Film-Noir Anti-Hero

Though, I realize that film noir was one of the first to present the idea of an anti-hero, the problem an anti-hero presents in the story is usually portrayed as a more vague symbol of some social ill, and less, a sort of super-villain or 'misguided hero' issue, as more recent indy films really love to use these days.

The Film-Noir Symbology

So, I realize that in writing this script I have some elbow room to work within as it comes to character development, and this leaves room for surprises. I think it may be good, though, to keep with some legendary symbols in the film to draw us back to the real deal. For example, The hero symbol, the femme fatale symbol, the habitual smoking and drinking is difficult to avoid, guns, police, organized crime, and a gritty black & white look along with dramatic lighting is essential, '40's era costuming is necessary (which is my favorite era of film noir), and, of course, some sort of mystery for the viewer to uncover. This is, to me, a chemistry to bring success as long as certain production points are achieved. Keeping vigilant as to lighting, acting style, costuming, sound quality & a strong sense of focus on the meaning in the story.

I am hoping to use B&W Digital HD with warm, somewhat intense lighting. Of course with video, lighting a scene will be easy as long as I chose my subjects carefully whether they be an urban scene in a back alley or the character of a face revealed in the light. Digital tends to be much more sensitive to light than film, not to mention post-production gives under-lighting an advantage in digital as opposed to film. All of this means a B&W film noir is great in digital (to me) while film is, no doubt, more expensive & time consuming to light. As long as there is a gradient of depth to the shadows and there is a gritty feel (which digital may have trouble with), I am golden!

Obstacles & Format

As it comes to the obstacles I forsee, I have many. I have a very limited budget, I don't have many props, nor do I have access to many professional actors & I don't have access to any '40's era automobiles. So, I am presented with some very real limitations. I believe it is possible to create the feeling of dramatic black & white and a gritty film feel while using digital, though I don't think this would be unnoticeable and this, I cannot prevent. So, I mustn't pretend to have achieved some sort of authentic black & white soft film look. This would be over-promising and under-delivering. However, if you have viewed my trailer (which is a very temporary main-idea trailer which was filmed on DV in one day- edited on Final Cut in two or three days) you can see that it feels 'film noir' & this is good. I'm sure a lot of that is the classic trailer 'big letter' titling and that was part of the plan, but dramatic shadows were of primary importance. This is done with the aid of fairly strong lighting for the most part and it does seem to work well. Shadows on walls are never to be underestimated or downplayed and don't forget the very oft presence of ceilings in film noir. In film noir prominent shadows, in a sense, ARE the movie & ARE the characters in the movie.

Planning & Scheduling Issues

As I had planned production of 'The Dark Cinema" for the fall of '06, obviously this did not occur. This was for a lot of reasons, I'm sure. The biggest reason I believe, is that I took too much on myself to accomplish (things I could not have accomplished alone). I did not think people could help me achieve the look I wanted. In some ways this may have been true but in others, obviously, it made it an 'un-dynamic' experience, neither did I achieve everything I desired. I need to work smarter in my field & delegate things that are a true distraction for me. I need more people to help me accomplish what this movie needs to have in order to come alive! I need some people I can trust to come through for me & I need to get better organized, as well, so I have prepared everyone- the crew as well as the cast. This is, after all, not a professional union picture. I cannot expect people to be fully acquainted with their jobs & I cannot expect people to exhibit a measure of desire either. Desire is either present & kicking or making a film becomes a sort of novelty. This is not the way to make movies, but especially on my part, expecting what is unrealistic is just bad management. Most of all, there is no substitute for organization in management. Unless everyone is hanging out ready to film at a moments notice people's schedules MUST be considered & appropriate events that contribute to production value must be clearly determined & communicated in a way everyone involved can understand.

I would like to know how people would like to schedule their time if they simply cannot use my method. My method is google calendar presently because it can be shared, kept private & it works. The people I work with need to make use of information such as production schedules, scripts & shot lists (etc.) if it is relevant to their work. This is something essential to consider if you want a professionalism on set. I think emailing this directly can be a good method to use, although something more central like a website, or google calendar can be helpful for event times & descriptions. The advantage google calendar has is its easier & faster to update & share. This blog can just as well serve as a source of this kind of information if everyone thinks so, but I prefer to use it strictly as a blog.

Making movies has taken a long time for me to develop, but I think collaborations are always things that can easily fail when expectations are not obvious & you are using sub-par employees. This is one reason Hollywood has grown so huge at making films. They'll tell people you'll get tons of money or they'll make them famous (without even blinking) if you'll only go & fetch their cappuchino & do their laundry! What's funny is people actually believe these scheming peddlers & will jump through never-ending fiery hoops like a good little toy dog. And you'll get nothing for it but an illegitimate child & never ending credit card debt. Well, maybe you'll get a few doggie treats out of it...

But I can't do that to people & even if I was a Hollywood producer, I wouldn't want to motivate people with half truths which are no better than lies. Of course, I probably would never want to be a Hollywood producer for that very reason. Please, if you want Hollywood from me, don't help me out or desire to work with me please! Cuz, it's not help...

To the strong, the brave & the believers out there who are still unoffended... let's not let the time get away with us. We can make something as enduring as film noir if we never give up. So, never give up!

Jon